Better With You
by outsid3r
Summary: Emily is back from Haiti after a summer away from Rosewood. Will she get the normal senior year she deserves? Spemily w/ very very brief mentions of Haleb and Ezria.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Better With You

Rating: T with potential for M (Will warn if it gets to that)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Pretty Little Liars

Summary: After spending a large portion of their Summer apart, the girls are back together for their senior year at Rosewood High. Mona is in Radley, Garrett's been arrested, Maya is dead, and emotions still run high. Emily returns from Haiti in hopes to move past what she's been put through, and finds happiness in an unexpected place. A Spemily focused story with mentions of Ezria and Haleb. Storyline with "A" but not the main focus. The story follows the regular season one and two storyline, and begins after the opening scene of season three, however the night ends differently.

**Chapter One – I Will Try To Fix You**

Being alone at night should have been easy for Emily by now. She had gone the past 5 months alone, and tonight was no different. 5 months. Since her life had changed. 5 months. Since she had gotten a full nights rest. 5 months. Since Mona Vanderwaal was sent to Radley. 5 months. Since the love of her life was cruelly taken from her. Maya St. Germain, her first real everything. Although Ali had been her first kiss, Emily didn't count it. The feelings weren't reciprocated; rather Ali used her for her own game of manipulation. But Maya; she was the real deal. First real kiss, first girlfriend, first love, first time... Maya was the reason Emily was able to finally accept her sexuality. Although Toby had been the one to give her the courage to come out, Maya gave her the reason. And now, she was just gone. These were the thoughts that kept Emily up at night. 5 months later, a summer in Haiti, and Emily still had sleepless nights filled with thoughts of her.

Emily sat up in her spot on Spencer's couch, glancing over at the other girls who appeared to be asleep. She could feel the residual effects of the alcohol they had drank earlier that night, which caused a wave of nausea to pass the girl. Emily successfully fought off the feeling of sickness before quietly standing up to get a glass of water from the kitchen. The house was silent aside from the low hum of Hanna's light snoring. She glanced over at the girls once more while pouring the beverage she'd retrieved from the fridge. Emily admired and appreciated what her friends were trying to do. Having them all together before the start of senior year was what Emily needed to help push through the pain. Although none of them knew the extent to which Emily was still coping, they'd tried to be there for the girl as much as they could. And that was more than Emily could ever ask.

She let out a sigh as she placed her glass on the counter and sat down on the chair beside it. 12 AM. It would be at the very, very least, 7 hours until her friends woke up again. At least, until Spencer would probably be up. There were only so many things one could do with seven hours. Emily couldn't leave the house by herself to go for a walk; she didn't want the girls to worry. She couldn't watch TV either. The last thing she wanted to do was wake them up. Especially Hanna, who could barely function on less than 10 hours of sleep. With her go-to options nullified, Emily opted to just sit at the kitchen table, flipping through her favourite photos on her phone. Photos of Maya. Emily's eyes went to her favourite photo of all time; a picture that Hanna had candidly taken about 6 months ago when they'd all been hanging out together. Maya was laughing at something Emily had said. Something she couldn't even remember, but wished she did. And Emily was looking at Maya as if she were the greatest thing to have ever graced her life. As if Maya could move mountains. It was love; Emily looked at Maya with the most immense amount of love and affection. Stray tears fell down Emily's face as she tried to maintain her composure. She sniffled and tried to stop the tears. Emily let out a slight gasp as she felt two arms wrap around her from behind. She quickly turned around and was met with soft brown eyes shooting back at her. Emily immediately wrapped her arms around the figure in front of her and cried into the other girls shoulder.

"Sorry Em, I didn't mean to startle you. I just heard you, and I figured you could use a hug. Are you…? I mean do you want to talk about it?" Spencer whispered to the girl in her arms as she held Emily as close to her as possible. It had always killed Spencer to see Emily so down. The swimmer had been through so much already, and Maya's death was the pinnacle of it all. Usually Emily kept up a strong front of smiles, happiness and positivity. Seeing her look so... Broken; it broke her heart. Emily's breathing became erratic and Spencer was instantly concerned with her state of being.

"Can we..." Emily began before taking a deep breath. "Can we just... Go outside... I can't... I can't breathe..." Spencer nodded, and pulled the girl up into her arms. She held Emily to her side while leading her around the kitchen counter and to the side door of her house, grabbing the keys that hung beside the door right before they went outside. After locking the door behind them, the two girls began to walk down the sidewalk in silence. Spencer had her arm on Emily's back, softly rubbing it to try and gently soothe the girl while Emily focused on calming her breathing. Spencer didn't want to push the girl into talking; she knew that what Emily was dealing with wasn't something to pry into. After walking in silence for what seemed like hours but was actually only 10 minutes, Spencer heard Emily mumble incoherently.

"Sorry what was that, Em?" Spencer spoke softly, as to not spook her best friend. Emily finally looked up at her, eyes now bloodshot from all the tears. She gave Spencer a weak smile.

"I said thank you," Emily replied quietly. And she meant it. It was the first time since Maya's death that somebody didn't treat her like she was made of glass. Emily didn't need someone to wipe her tears away. She had hands to do that for herself. She didn't need someone to feed her. She could cook for herself. And she didn't need people walking on eggshells around her. She was 17, not 7. She wasn't going to break whenever people didn't treat her like a child. Right now Emily needed someone to treat her as an equal. And that's what Spencer was doing. She treated Emily like her best friend, not a baby.

"Anytime, Em. I mean it. I know we all haven't really been talking these past few months with you in Haiti, Aria doing her photography thing, my extra courses at Hollis and Hanna being, well... Hanna. But you're one of the most important people in my life. So if you need me, I'm here. Remember that," Spencer explained to her. Emily nodded in agreement. She was glad it had been Spencer that found her crying. If it were Hanna, she'd go all mother mode and start treating her like a 6 year old. And if it were Aria, she'd probably be crying more than Emily. But Spencer was the calm and rational one. She was exactly what Emily needed.

"I know, Spence. And if I ever need someone to talk to, believe me you'll be the first to know," Emily informed her. Spencer smiled and put her arm around her shoulder, pulling her in for a slight hug. The held this position as the continued to walk - now turning back towards Spencer's house. "So, how was your summer? Aside from classes, what'd you do?"

Spencer knew that this was Emily trying to steer the conversation in any direction but towards the topic of Maya. She knew it probably wasn't healthy for Emily to bottle everything up and avoid talking about it, but Spencer would play along anyways. The last thing she wanted was to upset Emily after just calming her down.

"Honestly, not much. I decided to take up some sort of musical art form to fill my spare time. Consequently I now know how to play the guitar, so... Yay for that," Spencer informed the girl. She looked up at Emily to see a slight smile on her face. "And aside from that, just tennis and field hockey training to pass the time. Melissa's been helping me."

"The great Spencer Hastings accepting help from Melissa? What does that even consist of, you two taking swings at each other?" Emily joked. It was no secret that the two Hastings siblings had an ongoing battle of out-perfecting one another. It didn't matter what the event was - tests, projects, boys, IQ, accomplishments, etc., the girls always had to one-up each other. Emily found it difficult to believe that that had all changed in just one summer.

"Yeah, actually we sometimes just get together and try to fight to the death using only our trophies and medals as weapons. So not only does she try to outshine me, she also needs to prove that her awards were built better too," Spencer sarcastically replied with an eye roll. Both girls let out a laugh, and Spencer smiled. It was the first laugh she'd truly heard Emily let out in what felt like forever. She missed it; she missed the girl's positive energy. She missed her best friend. "But honestly, ever since... Everything that happened," Spencer started, not wanting to bring direct memories back to the night of Maya's death. "She's been really great. Driving me wherever I need when I don't quite feel myself, staying at the house when my mom and dad are gone so that I'm not alone, she was even somewhat civil around Wren when I asked him if he could make a house call because I was feeling really sick a few times. I figure I should milk it for what it's worth before she starts hating me for some asinine reason."

Emily nodded in understanding. She had caught what Spencer had done; trying to shy away from anything pertaining to the night they discovered that Mona was A. She appreciated Spencer's semi-smooth transition away from the topic, as she too didn't want to discuss it any further. At this point, Emily was just happy that their stalker had been locked up and out of their lives.

"I'm glad to hear you and Melissa are finally getting along," Emily stated. The two girls looked at each other and shared a smile once again. Their eyes lingered on one another's, almost battling for who would drop their gaze first. Of course, it was Emily who felt the intensity between the two of them skyrocket, causing her to shyly look away from her best friend. Something changed in that moment. Emily felt it, and she was sure Spencer did too. Why were they suddenly nervous around each other? Emily shook the feeling and pushed it to the back of her mind. Her and Spencer kept walking in silence, coming close to the last stitch of sidewalk before Spencer's yard. "So you learned guitar, when are you gonna play for me?" Emily questioned as she shot Spencer a playful look.

"Hah. Try never. It was something I did because I was bored, but I think I'm going to let Aria stick to musical excellence," Spencer responded. She was usually very shy when it came to performing arts. Unless she was being tested or competing for something, she hardly ever showcased her talent. In fact, it took almost all of middle school before her best friends found out that she had been an avid piano player since the age of 4; a trait which both her and Melissa shared. "I don't play for audiences."

"Oh come on, Spence! It's just little old me," Emily joked. "Can't I have the pleasure of hearing you play just once? I bet you let Toby hear your play all the time."

The mention of Toby's name threw Spencer off the slightest bit. She fell out of step with Emily as they were coming up the path to her door. It was for a split second, but Emily noticed it, and stopped, turning to the girl.

"What was that?" Emily questioned. Spencer tried to play it cool; pretending like she had no idea what Emily was talking about.

"What was what?" Spencer replied, trying to keep a strong voice.

"You... Flinched or something when I mentioned Toby," Emily elaborated.

"No, I didn't," Spencer tried to argue, but she already knew it was a lost cause. Emily wouldn't let this go until Spencer talked.

"Yes, you did Spence. Are you guys okay?" Emily gently questioned, not wanting to seem as though she was forcing her best friend into a corner. Spencer looked to the ground, unsure of what to tell the girl. Emily stepped forward and took Spencer's hand in hers. "What is it, Spence?"

"We just... We broke up," Spencer finally let out. "Over the summer we broke up. You're the first person I've told about it," she explained. Emily's eyes widened at the revelation. The two of them seemed so in love, and perfect for each other.

"Do you mind if I ask why?" Emily softly asked. Spencer smiled to herself at Emily's caution towards the topic. The tables had turned and now Spencer understood what it was like for people to walk around on eggshells with her.

"I... I can't," Spencer told Emily. "It's uhm... Personal," she explained quietly. Emily squeezed her hand and led them around to the back door of Spencer's house from where they'd left.

"Y'know it's always good to talk, right?" Emily suggested. Spencer tried not to roll her eyes at the comment, but she failed. And Emily knew exactly why. She was the poster child for hypocrisy at this point, by telling Spencer to talk when she herself had yet to do so. "Okay, compromise. I talk, then you talk?"

Spencer considered her options. She knew it'd be beneficial for the both of them to finally talk, but her break up with Toby hadn't been over something rudimentary. It was big, and she didn't know that she was ready to reveal it to her friends. At the same time though, she'd been yearning to have Emily open up to her, and this was her chance. Weighing all her options, she finally nodded her head in agreement.

"Okay, Fields. You've got yourself a deal. Follow me," Spencer replied as she quietly opened the door to let herself and Emily back into the house. They quietly maneuvered through the house once more, trying to keep quiet, as Aria and Hanna remained sound asleep. Still hand in hand, Spencer led them upstairs. She was sure she didn't want Aria or Hanna to hear any of this, just as Emily was sure of the same thing. They'd hear it eventually, she was sure. But right now this was between her and Emily only, and Spencer wanted to keep it that way.

The two of them entered Spencer's room, and Spencer hopped on her bed as Emily quietly shut the door. She glanced down at her bedside clock; it was 3:30 AM. Still plenty of time before they'd expect both Aria and Hanna to wake up. Emily moved around the room, finally joining Spencer's side on her bed. Emily sat, her back against the headboard and knees drawn into her, as if she was curling into the fetal position. Spencer sat up so that she also leaned against the headboard, her slender legs stretched out as she hugged a pillow. She glanced at the swimmer, trying to read her emotions.

"You know, we don't have to do this. We can both remain blissfully unaware," Spencer offered. She didn't want to make Emily do anything she wasn't comfortable doing. Emily shook her head no. She wanted to talk about it, and she knew it'd feel good to finally let it out. Emily just didn't know what to say. They sat in silence for a few minutes, and Spencer thought about if she should just call it a night. Her thoughts however were interrupted by a voice.

"I just... People think I'm so broken right now because I miss her so much. And while I do, that's not why I'm so broken. It's more because, well... It's my fault she's gone," Emily stated, her voice weak. "If I had just been... Better. Treated her better. Then she would have been with me that night, and not on her own. She would still be here."

"Em, you cannot blame yourself for that. That's a lot of weight you're baring on your shoulders right now that isn't true. Couples fight, but what happened to her... That could have happened at any time. And the fact that it was in your neighbourhood... Em that could have been you," Spencer told her, her voice slightly breaking as she let out that final thought. Because it could have been her. Some psycho murdered Maya right outside of Emily's house. Right outside of where Emily sleeps every single night. If it was Emily walking back to her house alone that night, she could have been gone with the blink of an eye. And that thought frightened the hell out of Spencer.

"It could have been me, but it wasn't. It was her who suffered for being involved with my life, Spence. It happened right outside of my house. Who do we know that just sits outside of people's houses? A. That's who. If her..." Emily trailed off, trying to keep her composure before continuing. "If Maya died, and was only found that night... Then what if Mona or one of her minions did this? What if Maya came to see me, and saw A instead? Think about it, Spence. If A is Ali's killer... If Mona or one of her workers was the one to kill Ali, and the one to kill Ian... They probably didn't even flinch at the thought of killing Maya. And now Maya is gone, forever. Because she was in the wrong place, trying to reach out to me," she finished. Tears welled up in her eyes, as Emily tried to force them not to fall. But the moment Spencer put her arms around her and pulled her in, Emily couldn't take it anymore. She let go, and she cried while Spencer held her close.

"Em, it was not your fault," she whispered. "If Mona did this, she's to blame. You weren't the one to kill her. She was. Not you, her. You loved Maya and you'd never do anything to hurt her. We all know that. It's not your fault." And by hearing Spencer say it, Emily finally started to believe it. She spent 5 months blaming herself for it. 5 months bottling up all of these emotions. 5 months hearing 'it's your fault' repeatedly in her mind. 5 months of nights where she unsuccessfully tried to drink those thoughts away. But finally hearing those four words out of someone else's mouth... It put her at ease. And so she cried. She cried for Maya. She cried for Maya's parents. She cried for herself. She cried because she finally began to feel free of all the pent up guilt. And between all the tears, heartache and acceptance, she did something she hadn't been able to do in 5 months. She slept through the night.

Spencer woke up the next morning to the feeling of vibrations next to her hands. She opened her eyes and found herself and Emily tangled up in each other. Her arms wrapped around Emily, spooning her. Spencer's left arm was underneath Emily's body and the same hand came out and was intertwined with Emily's right. Spencer's right arm was resting on Emily's side. She used her right arm to reach out for the phone that was next to their tangled bodies. Spencer made sure her movements were slow and gentle, as she didn't want to wake Emily who had finally fallen asleep after what seemed like hours of crying. Finally retrieving the phone, Spencer checked to see who was calling. It was Hanna. Instead of answering it, Spencer declined the call and sent Hanna a quick text.

'Em & I are upstairs. Will be down in 10'

After sending the text, Spencer put her phone down and moved her arm back to wear it was. She admired the girl who lay in her arms, taking note of small details she hadn't noticed before. Emily was beautiful in every right. From her voluminous, black locks of hair that always smelled like vanilla, to her legs that seemed to go on forever. She had the body of a swimmer, this Spencer knew for sure. And her beautifully tan skin was so perfectly soft. Spencer traced circles around the skin of her torso, an area that was exposed because Emily's shirt had ridden up slightly throughout the night.

"Mmm, that tickles," Emily softly let out. Spencer froze in her spot. She was caught admiring her best friend in a slightly more than friendly way. Spencer quickly stopped and pulled her hand away, unsure of what to do now. She felt Emily start to turn in her arms, so she eased her grip and allowed her to. In seconds, the two friends were face to face. Emily smiled shyly as Spencer looked away, embarrassed that she was caught admiring. "I didn't say stop," the swimmer let out. Spencer chuckled at her friend, thankful that she wasn't going to make a big deal out of it.

"Sleep looks good on you, Em," Spencer complimented. Emily's facial demeanour looked so much better than yesterday. The bags under her eyes had dissipated, her face looked brighter and more alert, and she looked happier. Not forced, but genuinely happier.

"I guess that's what happens when you finally sleep an entire night," Emily explained. "Thank you, Spence."

"For what?" Spencer asked, genuinely confused. She didn't think she'd done anything special at all.

"I haven't slept a full night since that night. And I certainly haven't been able to even entertain the idea of Maya's death not being my fault. But then you came along with your Hastings touch and you fixed me. So thank you, for everything last night," Emily explained. She pulled herself up a little, her elbows now holding her up. The two girls locked eyes, and before she realized it, Emily leaned in and placed a light kiss on Spencer's cheek. "You're the best, Spence," she said shyly. Trying not to make the situation a big deal, Spencer smiled at her, and Emily rolled off of the bed, her back turned to Spencer as she stretched. Spencer reached to her face and held her hand where Emily just kissed. She could feel herself goofily smiling, and caught herself before Emily turned around to see it. Finally, Spencer also got off her bed and stole a quick glance at the clock. 11:30am; a solid 7 hours of sleep was fine by her.

"Hanna and Aria are waiting downstairs for us. Breakfast?" Spencer suggested. Emily's eyes lit up at the mention of food, and began nodding her head rapidly. Spencer let out a laugh at Emily's eagerness and opened her bedroom door, gesturing for the girl to lead the way.

Emily descended down the staircase with Spencer en suite. As they came to the bottom, they saw both Aria and Hanna sitting at the kitchen counter, their heads both resting on it. Spencer chuckled at the sight, which caused them both to shoot their heads up. Bad idea for someone with a hangover. They grabbed their heads and began moaning in pain.

"I'm never drinking again," Hanna stated groggily. Everyone looked at Hanna, knowing that wasn't actually true. "Okay, at least not for a little while," she corrected. Spencer walked over to a kitchen cabinet and took out some ibuprofen. Emily caught on to what she was doing and found two clean glasses, pouring water into each glass and then setting them down in front of Hanna and Aria.

"Here, this should do the trick," Spencer told them as she handed them two pills each. They took the pills and washed them down with the water Emily had poured.

"Thanks, you two. What were you guys doing upstairs anyways? I woke up and Emily was nowhere to be found," Aria spoke. The two girls briefly glanced at each other, and it was enough of a look to know that last night should be kept just between the two of them, for now. Emily thought on her feet of what to give as an explanation.

"I couldn't sleep, Hanna's snoring sounded like a monster truck rally," Emily explained as Hanna rolled her eyes.

"Okay I do not snore that loud! Maybe you just have like ferocious hearing," Hanna argued. The three girls looked at Hanna, confused as to what she meant.

"You mean, precocious hearing?" Spencer corrected as she raised her eyebrow at the blonde. Hanna rolled her eyes for the second time that morning. "Em's right though, you were pretty loud last night. I heard sounds from my bedroom so I went downstairs to see what it was from, and poor Emily was sitting in the kitchen trying to not to suffocate you with a pillow. So I offered to let her stay in my room," Spencer lied. Emily glanced over at Spencer once more, silently thanking her for not going into detail the other events of last night.

"Wow look at that. How awfully nice of you, Spencer. You sure Toby won't be jealous?" Aria joked. Spencer flinched again just barely, but enough for Emily to notice, like she had yesterday. Though it was inconspicuous enough for Aria and Hanna to not catch on. Spencer put on a fake smile and laughed at Aria's joke.

"No, I kept my hands to myself," Emily let out in a joking tone. She knew that Spencer owed her an explanation but for now, she was protecting the girl - just as Spencer had done for her.

"Well as much as I love to talk about where Emily puts her hands, I've got to go. Caleb and I have a lunch date," Hanna informed the group. She stood from the table, as did Aria.

"I've also got to head out. Ezra's back from New York in like an hour and I want to surprise him with one more date before school starts up tomorrow," Aria explained.

"Well, Em... I guess it's just the two of us. Wanna hang out?" Spencer told her. Emily nodded at the suggestion, happy at the thought of some more one on one time with the youngest Hastings.

"We'll see each other tomorrow though. Now that all this 'A' crap is done with, I can finally look forward to going to school again," Aria told the girls who nodded in agreement. Just as Hanna and Aria were about to leave, the sounds of vibrations and buzzers went off. All four girls froze in their spots; a feeling of déjà vu took over.

"It couldn't..." Hanna started.

"No, it won't be..." Spencer retorted.

"But what if..." Aria began.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Emily reiterated.

The four girls pulled out their phones. One new text. From Unknown. They opened the new message at once.

"A happy welcome back party for our fourth little liar," Emily read.

"I hope you girls didn't miss me too much," Hanna followed.

"Because I'm back, and I still know all your secrets," Spencer continued.

"Let the games begin, bitches," Aria finished, as they all saw from whom the text was signed.

"-A."

**Now here's where I'm torn. I could do a purely Spemily storyline with no new A involved, OR I could do an A side plot but still with Spemily as the focus. Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? Reviews?**


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Better With You

Rating: T with potential for M (Will warn if it gets to that)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Pretty Little Liars

Summary: After spending a large portion of their Summer apart, the girls are back together for their senior year at Rosewood High. Mona is in Radley, Garrett's been arrested, Maya is dead, and emotions still run high. Emily returns from Haiti in hopes to move past what she's been put through, and finds happiness in an unexpected place. A Spemily focused story with mentions of Ezria and Haleb. Storyline with "A" but not the main focus. The story follows the regular season one and two storyline, and begins after the opening scene of season three, however the night ends differently.

**Chapter Two – Easier Said Than Done**

"Hanna would you just listen for like 5 seconds?" Spencer requested. "If this text was legitimate then you realize where it came from, right? Five feet tall, black hair, favourite hobbies include shopping, gossiping, texting, and hitting you with her freaking car?"

"Okay, stop it Spencer! Mona is in Radley locked behind bars and probably drooling on herself from all the crazy meds. This couldn't have been her!" Hanna retorted. The girls had been arguing back and forth about this for the past 10 minutes – right after they got a text from their supposed old stalker. Spencer rolled her eyes at Hanna's argument, though it did have some merit. Mona should have been behind the bars of Radley, away from any sort of technology. But that didn't mean that they didn't have a right to go to Radley just to make sure.

"But Hanna, you-" Spencer tried, before Hanna cut her off.

"But nothing! How many fake texts have we gotten since all this crap went public? This is probably just another stupid group of guys who have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon than to play pranks on us. Well you know what? I'm done playing these stupid games. Let Mona rot in her cell for all I care. I for one refuse to let her or A or whoever the hell is out there control my life. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm late for my date with Caleb," Hanna stated firmly before pushing past Spencer and out the door.

Spencer let out a frustrated sigh and walked over to her kitchen counter, sitting on a chair and putting her head in her hands. Emily and Aria stood beside her, unable to formulate words. Both of the girls had valid points. They had been receiving a lot of fake texts from random people that were trying to be funny. But on the other hand, if this were a real text then it couldn't hurt for them to make sure it wasn't coming from Mona. The way the texts were sent was too perfectly executed, and as much as the girls didn't want to believe this one was authentic, they all had a seeping suspicion that that had been the real deal. But that could also be chalked up to post-stalker paranoia.

"I'll go talk to her before she gets far. We'll figure this out tomorrow, together. Be careful, though," Aria finally spoke. She quickly hugged her two best friends and ran out the door before they could object. This left Emily and Spencer by themselves, and while Emily was somewhat freaking out internally over the text, she was calmed in knowing that Spencer was with her. She glanced over at Spencer who now had her elbows resting on the table, hands holding her head up as she shut her eyes and rubbed her temples. Emily smiled to herself, briefly internally acknowledging how cute Spencer looked before realizing her thoughts and shaking them off. The girl could tell that Spencer's emotional state was a combination of two things - frustration and hunger. Without hesitation, Emily stepped towards Spencer, placing her hands on her shoulders and gently massaging them to try and de-stress the girl in front of her. She felt Spencer relax under her arms, and it put her at ease.

"Breathe, Spence. Hanna's hardheaded but it's like Aria said. We'll figure it out together. Now how about we go grab some brunch?" Emily offered. Spencer let out a slight chuckle before turning around and giving Emily a soft look, to which Emily shot back a relaxed yet questioning look in reaction to Spencer. "What?"

"How do you do that?" Spencer questioned softly. Emily's face turned into one of confusion, which Spencer caught onto. " How do you know just what to do to take my mind off of things?"

"Now that, is a secret," Emily replied with a sly grin before turning around and walking away. Spencer's eyes followed Emily's body, unconsciously checking her out as she saw her best friend make her way upstairs. "Are you coming, or are you going to check me out all day?" Emily asked, without even turning to look at Spencer. Spencer's eyes widened, she herself didn't even realize that she was checking the swimmer's body out.

"I- I wasn't checking you out," Spencer sputtered, her tone of voice sounding guilty. She stood from her chair and began to follow Emily upstairs.

"Don't sound so flustered, Spence. I was kidding," Emily replied casually as she opened the door to the room she'd previously spent the night in. Spencer followed en suite, trying to maintain her composure. It baffled her how Emily was able to so easily fluster her, even when she was just joking, but she quickly shook it off.

"I knew that. Hurry up and get dressed so we can go eat. I know the perfect place," Spencer told the girl as she went to her closet to find a fresh batch of clothing. The two got dressed in a comfortable silence, leaving Spencer's house within a half hour.

Spencer drove the two of them to a diner not far from her house - approximately 10 minutes away to be exact. The diner was quaint, out of the way, and one that Emily hadn't recognized or been to before. As the two girls walked towards the entrance, Emily noted the diner's subtle tropical exterior. The two girls entered the building and were met with the brightness of sunlight seeping through the large windows that surrounded the restaurant, mini palm trees in several corners of the restaurant, and a very homey environment. It looked like a beach house you'd find on the coast of California. Spencer held Emily's arm and eagerly pulled her toward the hostess, seemingly excited, which Emily loved to see. She rarely got to see moments of Spencer's unfiltered and unaltered happiness, but the times she was able to catch, Emily basked in. Spencer looked like a kid in a candy store as the two of them reached a young woman standing behind a glass counter.

"Little H! What brings you here?" The woman questioned as she moved from behind the counter to give Spencer a hug. Emily noted how comfortable Spencer looked around this woman, and deduced that Spencer had probably been coming here for years.

"You guys serve the best brunch in town, what else?!" Spencer joked, still holding onto the young girl. The two let go of each other as the woman held Spencer out at arms length, looking her up and down as if she was mentally taking note of how Spencer had changed.

"Damn right we do! And I see you've brought someone?" The woman noted with a curious tone to her voice as she finally looked past Spencer and locked her blue eyes to Emily's. She gave Spencer a look of wonder, and Emily noticed Spencer lightly shake her head at the woman, which sparked Emily's curiosity. Spencer pulled away from the woman and went back to Emily's side, gesturing towards the swimmer.

"Sure did! This is Emily, one of my best friends," Spencer explained. "Emily, this is Cayleigh. I met her when I stumbled into this joint a while back.

Emily extended her hand to the blonde girl who eagerly accepted it with a big smile on her face. Once Cayleigh let go of her hand, she took two menus from the side table and gestured both girls to follow her. They were led to a secluded table at the back corner of the diner, next to a frosted window. Both girls sat down as Cayleigh informed them that she'd find a server to take their orders.

"Little H?" Emily let out with a questioning tone. Spencer laughed at the fact that that was the first thing she'd be curious about. Emily always chose the most peculiar aspects of situations to question; something Spencer loved about her best friend. She was observant about the little things.

"Cayleigh went to school with Melissa when they both went to Rosewood High. When we met initially, her first words to me were something along the lines of 'Hey, you're little Hastings, aren't you?' and from then on, it just kind of stuck," Spencer answered, as Emily nodded, intrigued by what Spencer had just shared with the girl. Then again, Emily was just a very avid listener; anything would have intrigued her.

"So, how'd you find this place anyways?" Emily asked. She was full of questions this afternoon, which Spencer expected. She had pretty much whisked the swimmer off to a random, unknown diner. Emily had a right to ask all these questions in Spencer's mind.

"It's nice, isn't it? Away from everything and everyone. Like a hiding place," Spencer mentioned with a small glimmer of pride in her eyes. Pride for finding her own personal space throughout all of the chaos that happened outside the walls of the diner. "I stumbled upon it a few weeks after Ali went missing. It was the only place I could come to and just completely tune out everything from the outside world. My parents, Melissa, school, Ali, sports, A… Everything really. It was a break from all that. You're actually the first person I've ever brought here."

"Really? Even Toby?" Emily blurted out but immediately regretted doing so as she saw the demeanor on Spencer's face shift to slight irritation. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's okay. I did promise you that talk," Spencer admitted. "Let me just get some food in me and then we can…"

"We don't have to. If you don't want to, we don't have to talk about it," Emily offered. Spencer looked at her best friend with admiration, but shook her head in disagreement – something that Emily had expected her to do. When a Hastings makes a promise she keeps that promise. It's what made Spencer so trustworthy to Emily.

"While I appreciate that, we had a deal. And if I don't withhold my end of it right now, I don't think I'll ever draw the courage to do it in the future," Spencer explained. Emily nodded in understanding. The girls looked at their menus in silence, contemplating what they'd let themselves indulge in. The waitress came around and the two girls placed their individual orders. It took approximately 15 minutes for them to come out, and Emily thought Spencer was going to have a brain aneurism if she had to wait any longer for her food. But finally she saw the waitress appear from the back of the kitchen with a tray full of exactly what she'd ordered.

"I've got the short-stack of pancakes, side bacon, side potatoes, a fruit bowl, side eggs scrambled, and a cup of coffee," the waitress let out in one breath as Spencer gestured for the waitress to place it all in front of her, her face lighting up at the mention of all the food. "And then I've got eggs over-easy, side bacon, side potatoes, two slices of toast, brown, and an apple juice," she read out as she placed each order in front of Emily. They both politely thanked the waitress as she smiled back at them before excusing herself from their table.

The girls ate as Emily stole glances at Spencer, noticing how tense she looked while eating. She knew it was because Spencer was probably thinking of the conversation that was coming up. Emily wanted to tell her to relax, but she knew it was no use. If what Spencer had to say was really that big, there was no calming her down. During their meal the girls had small talk every here and there, but it didn't go past that. Emily was trying not to strike any nerves with Spencer who was already on edge, and Spencer was trying to maintain her cool in general. Finally the two finished eating, but neither spoke. Emily sat with her apple juice in between her hands as she looked into the glass, almost as though she was expecting answers from Spencer to come out of it. She didn't want Spencer to feel pressured to talk, so she opted for just not looking at the girl across from her. This continued for a few minutes before Emily heard a light sniffle that caused her to look up from her drink. It came from Spencer, and was accompanied by a stray tear that fell from Spencer's eye.

"Spence, what's wrong?" Emily immediately questioned as she instantly became concerned. Spencer never cried. In fact, Emily was sure the only time she had ever seen Spencer really cry was when she was seconds away from dying at the hands of Ian Thomas. But other than that, hardly a single tear. She went to reach for her friend's hand, but Spencer flinched away. Emily pulled her hand back, understanding that Spencer needed her physical space. She tried to catch Spencer's gaze, but the girl refused to look up. Emily heard a light whisper come from Spencer's mouth, but she wasn't sure what the girl had said. She stood up and moved her chair closer to Spencer's cautious of if Spencer was going to flinch away from her again. She didn't, so Emily placed her chair right beside her best friend and sat next to her. "What'd you say, Spence?"

"I said it'll never be the same, Em."

"It'll never be the same? What won't, Spencer?" Emily interrogated, completely lost at what Spencer was referencing.

"Toby and I. The break up. It was my fault. I… I…"

"You… You broke up with him? You lied to him? You… cheated on him?" Emily threw out random scenarios to try and jog Spencer's thoughts. She had hoped the last suggestion wasn't what had actually happened. Spencer was the most loyal person she knew. It would kill her if she'd done something like that to Toby.

"No, but I might as well have. I…" Spencer sighed as she finally looked up at Emily. The girl had tears in her eyes and the most terrified look on her face. Her lower lip was trembling as if she was on the verge of a break down. Emily put her arm around Spencer and pulled her in close to try and calm the girl down. Spencer wrapped her arms around Emily, her face in the crook of the swimmer's neck as tears already began to soak through the t-shirt that covered Emily's shoulder.

"You can tell me anything, Spencer. I'm going to love you no matter what," Emily informed the girl, wanting to let her know and make her feel that she was loved. Spencer whispered again, only this time her face was so close to Emily's ear that she heard Spencer's voice clearly.

"I think I'm gay." 

* * *

Spencer wasn't sure how long she had been crying for. She wasn't sure when her and Emily had left the diner. Or at what point Emily had managed to get her from her jeans and sweater into a tank top and shorts. Heck, she wasn't even sure how they got from the diner back to her room. But some odd hours later, that's where they were. Spencer's head lay in Emily's lap as the swimmer calmly brushed through her brown locks. It was soothing and kept Spencer's nerves at bay. The brunette hadn't said a word since uttering the ones that changed everything. She was emotionally exhausted and felt as though she was about ready to break. But she held it together for the girl who sat beside her. Always the perfect friend, Emily didn't for a second leave Spencer's side. And she didn't push Spencer to talk. Instead, she kept the girl company, making sure that Spencer felt protected from every sort of evil in the world. It was the most reassuring feeling Spencer had ever experienced. The moment however, was ruined as Spencer heard the loud sound of a phone beeping. Emily immediately reached for her phone, answering it as though her life depended on it.

"Hello," she whispered. Spencer wondered what caused Emily to talk so quietly into her phone, curious as to who was on the line. "Mom, I can't talk right now. Spencer's asleep, I don't want to wake her."

Now it made sense. In her catatonic state, Spencer hadn't moved from her position in what could have been hours. It only made sense that Emily thought she was asleep. Maybe it was better that Emily held that train of thought. It would be easier than having to talk about her feelings. Spencer tried to maintain her shallow breathing as she kept her eyes closed, holding the illusion.

"I'm fine, mom. Look, Spencer really needs me. She's going through something right now and I don't want her to be alone. I'll be at school on time tomorrow, I promise," Emily spoke into the phone. Was Emily really going to stay the night with her? Even though she thought she was already asleep? Spencer's heart fluttered at the thought of Emily's caring gesture. "Thanks, mom. I'll call you tomorrow when I get to school. Love you. Night."

Emily hung up her phone and lightly placed it back onto Spencer's bedside table. The two had been lying there the entire afternoon, and Emily was exhausted from all of it. She went back to brushing Spencer's hair lightly as she admired the beautiful girl's tear stained face. Gently stroking Spencer's cheek, she admired how soft and perfect her skin was. Emily smiled to herself, noting that this was the first time all day Spencer looked completely at ease. She leaned forward and placed a slight kiss on Spencer's forehead.

"Your sexuality will never be a flaw. You're perfect in every way, Spence. I hope you don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Emily spoke softly into her ear. She was unaware of Spencer's conscious state of mind, but what she didn't realize was that those words hit Spencer in an earth-moving way. They reminded Spencer to embrace her differences, instead of fearing them. Emily turned off the bedside lamp which was the only thing used to illuminate the room. She slid Spencer's head onto the pillow beside her; careful not to wake what she thought was a sleeping girl. The raven-haired girl then proceeded to slip into a pair of shorts and a tank top before sliding into the bed next to Spencer, wrapping her arms around the girl as she held her as close to her as possible. It was with this small gesture that Spencer finally felt completely safe from everything and everyone. And so, they slept.

Glistening rays of light shone through the windows of Spencer's bedroom and onto the two sleeping figures that were almost entirely motionless in the bed. Spencer groaned, immediately awakened by it as she opened her eyes and peered over at her bedside clock. The girls had an hour before they had to be at school. She rubbed her eyes and began to try and stand up, when the arms that were around her waist tightened their grip.

"Five more minutes," Emily let out sleepily, her eyes still closed. Spencer rolled onto her side to face her friend and let out a slight giggle. The tendrils of Emily's black hair cascaded down the front of her face as the girl had a look of slight frustration; eyes still closed not wanting the day to begin. Spencer reached up to her face, lightly brushing her friend's hair out of it, which caused Emily to soften her look.

"C'mon Em, our parents will kill us if we're late on the first day back," she replied while stroking the girls cheek with her thumb. Her hand lingered on Emily for a moment as Spencer allowed herself to stare intently at her. Then, she removed her hand and broke Emily's grip, finally getting up. "I'm going to grab a shower. You can take one in the guest, and feel free to take whatever you want from my closet. I think I have a section of your clothes from when you've slept over and forgotten things here before. 20 minutes, Em! I expect to see you ready in 20 minutes."

"Yes, Cer," Emily let out sarcastically as she finally opened her eyes to see Spencer standing near the door, reaching for a towel.

"Sir? I'm not a boy!" Spencer replied as she exaggerated her disdain. Emily laughed at her, and decided to play along.

"No, no. Not s-i-r. C-e-r. Y'know, like the last three letters of your name," Emily retorted as she rose out of bed and stretched her limbs. Spencer rolled her eyes at Emily's response. She had to admit though it was clever.

"Nice save, goofball," Spencer answered as her and Emily shared a laugh.

"What can I say, I learn from the best. And besides, you're far too lovely to be a boy. Now put some pep in your step, Spence. Or we're going to be late," Emily slyly responded as she walked past Spencer and playfully nudged her before making her way out of the bedroom to the Hastings' guest shower. Spencer shook her head and proceeded to her own shower.

A little over 20 minutes later, Emily descended down the stairs, her long hair flowing down in waves as she finished buttoning up the blue and black flannel shirt she had on. Spencer had just finished pouring a glass of orange juice for Emily and was reaching for the coffee when she heard her friend's footsteps. Spencer turned around and quickly examined the girl's outfit, having never seen the shirt, or the black jeans that accompanied it.

"I made breakfast," Spencer informed the girl as she gestured towards the buttered bagel and glass of juice that sat on the counter in front of her. Emily smiled in appreciation and say down in front of the food. The two ate in silence, and Emily noticed Spencer stealing glances at her while she too did the same. Emily observed her colour-coordinated outfit consisting of a red and black plaid skirt that flowed just above her knees that were met with lacy black knee high socks. She wore a short sleeve red blouse underneath a black sleeveless vest with a plunging deep v neckline. Spencer always wore her preppie attire to school. This was topped off with a red headband that pulled Spencer's hair out of her face, the rest of it cascading downwards. As Emily acknowledged Spencer's hairdo, she noticed a look of concentration and slight confusion on her best friend's face.

"Why do you look like you're trying to figure out what the square root of 942 is?" Emily questioned before finishing the rest of her juice to wash down the last bite of her bagel. Spencer glanced up at Emily, still holding the same look.

"30.69," Spencer replied immediately, causing Emily to now sport the same look of confusion. "Or 30.7 if you want to round up. The square root of 942," she stated.

"No, Spence I wasn't... Never mind, why do you look so concentrated?" Emily questioned again. Spencer finished up the last bit of her coffee and began packing her bag for school.

"I organize my closet and know every piece of clothing inside of it including yours, and Hanna's, and Aria's. Those," she stated as she gestured to Emily's clothing, "aren't in it. So now I feel like I'm going insane because I cannot for the life of me figure out how I possibly could have missed an entire outfit."

"Okay, Spence. Are you done with your panic attack?" Emily teased as Spencer shot her a glare. "You don't remember a ton from yesterday, do you?"

"What does yesterday got to do with it?" Spencer questioned back. The two of them were now making their way to Spencer's car. Spencer got into the driver's seat as Emily placed her bag in the back seat before getting into the passenger's side.

"After everything that went down yesterday, I drove to my house while you waited in the car. Picked up anything I thought I'd need in case I stayed over. Then I brought you home," Emily explained. Spencer let out a relaxed sigh. She wasn't going completely crazy.

"Listen, Em... About yesterday," Spencer started but was immediately cut off by her friend.

"If you ever need to talk, Spence I'm here for you. I know exactly what you're going through, and I hope you know you have all the support in the world from me. You don't have to go through it alone. And until you're ready to tell people, your secret is safe with me," Emily let out. Spencer took Emily's hand in hers and squeezed it appreciatively. They remained that way until they pulled up to the school parking lot and Spencer retrieved her hand in order to properly park her car. Spencer turned off the engine, but before Emily could move to get out of the car, Spencer put her hand on the girl's arm and gestured for her to wait.

"Thank you, Em; for everything, seriously. I couldn't ask for a better friend," Spencer admitted. The two looked at each other, their gazes intensely locked together. It was almost as though gravity was pulling them closer and closer together. Their eyes continued to shift from each other's soft lips and back up. Spencer bit her lip in anticipation as Emily licked her own. They were just inches away from kissing when a loud banging noise came from the rear window of Spencer's car, causing the two girls to jolt apart. The girls were panting as Spencer glanced in the side mirror to see Hanna coming up the side of her car, laughing loudly. The sounds of chuckles could be heard from both sides of the car, and Spencer assumed Aria stood on the other side. Her and Emily shared a brief look before opening their respective doors.

"Did we scare you?" Hanna joked as Spencer stepped out of her SUV. She rolled her eyes at Hanna before walking in front of her car where Emily and Aria were standing. Emily held Spencer's bag in her hands and Spencer retrieved it from her, the two of them avoiding eye contact with each other after what almost just happened. "So thanks for offering me a ride to school there, Spence I see how it is."

"I didn't offer anyone a ride. Emily stayed over because my house was empty and I wasn't about to stay by myself with Mona 2.0 on our hands," Spencer lied smoothly. It kind of shocked her how easily she was able to figure out a fake story, but she was glad it was believable. Aria let out a deep sigh knowing Spencer and Hanna were about to get into it again.

"For the last time, Spencer it is not Mona!" Hanna said exasperatedly.

"Okay, enough! Spencer, she's right we don't know for sure if it is Mona doing this again, or if that last message was even real," Aria stated.

"Hah! Exactly!" Hanna happily let out; satisfied that somebody finally took her side on the matter. However, Aria wasn't finished yet.

"But," she paused. "Hanna, Spencer's right too. We need to make absolute sure she isn't somehow pulling strings from Radley. Which means one of us needs to visit her." The four girls went silent, but Aria, Spencer, and Emily all looked to Hanna who was pretending as though she didn't realize what the girls were hinting at. Emily rolled her eyes at the blonde before speaking up.

"If you didn't get the hint, Hanna she means you. If anyone's going to get an honest answer out of her, it's going to be you. So you have to go and see her," Emily declared.

"Okay fine, whatever. But when I'm right and you guys are wrong I expect an apology and a written declamation to say that I was right for once," Hanna demanded. Her three friends let out a collective laugh at Hanna's insistence upon being right.

"By the way it's declaration. De-cla-Ration," Spencer emphasized to her. "That's besides the point. Hanna you have to go as soon as possible. Meaning after school. Do you want one of us to go with you?"

"No. That's okay; I think this is something I need to do on my own. Besides, you're right. If she's going to be honest to anybody, it's going to be me. I just don't know how honest she'll be with you guys around," Hanna explained. Her friends nodded in agreement. They were about to walk up the stairs to the entrance of their school, but their footsteps halted as Paige McCullers stood in their pathway.

"Hey Paige," Emily greeted politely, the only one of all the girls that actually had any sort of friendship with her. The rest of the girls were civil with Paige for the most part. Spencer still held some residual anger from the situation that Paige had put Emily through earlier that year, but she hid her feeling of discontent and gave her friendliest smile to her.

"Hi, Em. Can I talk to you for a minute?" Paige questioned, a look of slight desperation in her eyes. Emily nodded her head before briefly turning her attention back to her friends.

"I'll see you guys in class, okay?" She informed them before her and Paige walked away. Spencer watch the two girls walk away together, feeling a sense of jealousy wash over her as she watched them talk animatedly. She knew all about the past between Paige and Emily, and how Paige had treated the girl both before and after she revealed her true feelings. Though she understood Paige's feeling of anger and resentment towards herself, she couldn't find any sort of justification for putting Emily through what she did. From trying to drown her to wanting to keep Emily a secret, Spencer just couldn't fathom what went through Paige's mind.

The feeling of a vibration coming from her purse interrupted Spencer's thoughts. She glanced up at Hanna and Aria who were now walking inside of the school while she followed slowly behind. Spencer retrieved her phone from her purse to see one new message - from Unknown. The brunette glanced around her, unsure of if there was anyone watching her. She opened the message and read it silently to herself.

'_Is that Spencer Hastings I see sporting jealousy? I wouldn't be so obvious, Spence. If I didn't know any better it would seem that you've got a thing for your best GIRL friend! Don't worry though, your secret's safe with me… For now. –A' _

Spencer tightened the grip on her phone, frustrated. She wanted to be able to show Hanna the text, to rub in her face that SHE had been right. There was a new A. Was it Mona? Maybe not, but this one was definitely not playing around. Spencer shoved her phone back in her bag, already annoyed with the message. She detached herself from Hanna and Aria, the two of them not noticing because they were wrapped up in their own world. She was on a mission starting now. And that mission began with her finding Emily.

**Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? Reviews? Will be updating weekly now, sometimes sooner if I get enough requests for it!**


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Better With You

Rating: T with potential for M (Will warn if it gets to that)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Pretty Little Liars

Summary: After spending a large portion of their Summer apart, the girls are back together for their senior year at Rosewood High. Mona is in Radley, Garrett's been arrested, Maya is dead, and emotions still run high. Emily returns from Haiti in hopes to move past what she's been put through, and finds happiness in an unexpected place. A Spemily focused story with mentions of Ezria and Haleb. Storyline with "A" but not the main focus. The story follows the regular season one and two storyline, and begins after the opening scene of season three, however the night ends differently.

**Chapter Three - Top Notch Confessions**

The bell rang and students poured out of their classrooms into the hallways. Finally the first day back was complete, though it didn't consist of much of anything; mostly course outlines, student expectations, and introductions to new teachers. However, the day had taken a particular toll on Spencer who was now exiting her AP World Literature class. She had spent the entire day trying to find time to talk to Emily, however it seemed that every chance she got to talk to her best friend, the girl was being preoccupied by somebody else. Whether it was Hanna, or Aria, or someone from her swim team, people constantly surrounded Emily and Spencer wasn't the type to monopolize the girl. So, she figured it would be easier to just touch base with the swimmer after school. Spencer turned the corner towards the hallway that led to her locker. She briefly greeted Hanna and Aria who were both at their lockers – just a few away from both her and Emily's – before turning her attention towards her destination. Spencer could feel Emily's presence around her before even looking up. But she wished she had looked up earlier, so she could avoid the awkward moment of making eye contact with Emily as she was embraced in a hug with Paige. Spencer immediately halted as she locked eyes with Emily who was still engulfed in Paige's arms.

Before she thought too much into it, the brunette quickly spun on her heel and began to speed walk in the other direction. No matter what she told herself, she knew it to be true. She had feelings for Emily, and seeing her with Paige had ignited a rage deep in her chest; one that she couldn't calm. Spencer knew she needed to get far away from the situation before it dug under her skin even more. Quickening her stride, she exited the doors of the school towards her car. Spencer had been so deep in thought and jealousy that she hadn't even heard the footsteps that were pattering behind her. It wasn't until she felt an arm on her shoulder that she noticed anyone in her general vicinity.

"Spencer, hold up for a second will you?" Emily requested, panting as she'd been trying to keep pace with the girl in front of her. Spencer let out a disheartened sigh before turning around. "Talk to me?"

Spencer let out a deep sigh before gesturing Emily to follow her. It confused Emily, but if it meant getting answers to all the questions that were currently running through her mind, she'd go along with it. The two walked towards the trees that surrounded the outer lot of the school, cutting into them a little bit before they came into a small secluded clearing with a bench. Spencer gestured for Emily to sit next to her, and as she sat down Spencer curled her legs up to her chest, hugging them close.

"I like you," Spencer blurted out, causing Emily's mouth to drop slightly with an unreadable look on her face. Spencer dropped her head to her knees, frustrated at how she delivered that. "I'm sorry," she spoke with her head still down. "I feel like I'm springing all these things on you and it's not fair because you're still dealing with things and I feel like the worst person in the world to have just suddenly thrown a whole new cluster fuck of things at you, but you're my best friend and I don't know what else to do, and I just…" Spencer finally let out a breath, looking up from her legs to see a slight smile on Emily's face. "What?"

"You're cute," Emily spoke shyly. She moved closer to Spencer, taking one of her arms that were clasped tightly around the girl's knees. Spencer dropped her knees as she allowed Emily to intertwine their fingers together. "Look, Spence… It's been 5 months since Maya. And in those 5 months I haven't looked at anyone that way. But this weekend, I felt like I had nowhere to go; nobody I could turn to. Except for you. Not because I wanted to know about Toby and not because I didn't know what I was doing, and not because I was drunk – because I wasn't. It was because deep down I knew I needed someone that night. And that someone was you. Not Hanna, or Aria, or Paige, or anyone else. You, and only you," Emily explained as Spencer shied away from the girl's intense stare only to have Emily place her other hand on Spencer's cheek, willing her to look in her direction. "You saved me."

The two locked eyes in an intense gaze as both of their eyes shifted to each other's lips, and back up. The tension between the two girls was eminent as their breaths became staggered. Emily moved her hand to the nape of Spencer's neck, pulling her in as she leaned closer to the girl. Spencer's breath hitched as she felt gravity pull her towards the girl. Both girls shut their eyes as they inched closer and closer towards each other. Just as their lips were about to graze for the first time, they heard the crunch of leaves from a tree nearby. Both girls instinctively shot away as though they'd just been caught doing something inappropriate. Emily inwardly cursed the phantom noises that interrupted another almost-kiss, however Spencer stood, walking over to what she thought was the source of the sound, in hopes of a sign of someone's presence. Emily stood up and walked towards Spencer, unsure of what she was looking for.

"It's okay, Spence. It was just a squirrel or something," Emily stated logically. But Spencer knew better. Spencer knew that someone was out there, watching them - probably the same person that was watching them this morning.

"It wasn't just a squirrel," Spencer said matter-of-factly. Emily crinkled her eyebrows in confusion, and Spencer suddenly realized that she still hadn't talked to Emily about what she'd received earlier. She pulled out her phone and immediately opened the text message to show to the girl. Holding out the phone to Emily, the girl took it and quickly read it, her face changing from one of confusion to one of slight fear and anger. "I needed to talk to you earlier. You were the only one I could go to about it, as much as I wanted to rub it in Hanna's face. Those texts weren't just some kind of prank. They were legitimate A texts from someone who has been watching us. Watching me. They know my secret, and they were probably here listening to everything we just said."

"We have to tell Hanna and Aria," Emily concluded as she began to walk back towards the direction of the school, but Spencer froze in spot. After realizing that the girl wasn't following her, Emily turned back to the girl who seemed unsure of something. "Spencer? Are you coming?"

"I can't tell them. I can't… I can't tell anyone. I don't know if I'm ready," Spencer explained. Emily backtracked her steps until she was inches away from Spencer, placing her hands on the girl's waist.

"Spence I know it's scary. I know it feels like all the walls are closing in and there's nobody to protect you. But I'm here for you, and Hanna and Aria will be too," Emily explained calmly, but she could tell Spencer wasn't yet convinced.

"I'm a Hastings, Em. I… What if they think I'm not good enough anymore?" Spencer questioned, her eyes beginning to gloss over. Emily ran her hands gently up and down Spencer's arms, trying to soothe her.

"You know that Hanna was one of the first people to know I was gay, right?" Emily asked, taking a different approach. Spencer looked at her, lightly nodding her head. "A sent Hanna a picture of me kissing Maya. That's how she found out. When we talked, when I finally confided in her about how to approach the situation, do you know what she said?" Emily thought back to Hanna's words, smiling slightly. "She said, 'you were Emily dating Ben, and now you're Emily dating Maya. We love Emily, no one cares who you're with.' And she couldn't have been more right."

Spencer let out a slight chuckle as Emily wiped away a stray tear that began to trickle down the side of Spencer's face.

"That's probably the smartest thing Hanna's ever said," Spencer commented sarcastically as the two of them laughed together. The laughs died down, and Emily continued speaking.

"One thing I regret about what happened when I came out was that I didn't get to do it on my own terms. I was pushed out of the closet, I didn't walk out. Don't let A take that from you. Just because you were Spencer dating Toby, doesn't mean your parents will look at you any differently if you're Spencer dating anyone else," she concluded, her hand sliding down to connect with Spencer's once again. Spencer glanced down at their hands before lifting them up, taking Emily's hand to her lips and lightly kissing it.

"Do you mean that?" Spencer questioned softly. For the first time, Emily saw the fragility in Spencer. It reminded her a lot of herself when she used to be as lost as Spencer was now. Emily nodded her head without hesitation.

"I like you, Spencer. A lot. More than I thought I did, that's for sure. And I'd like to see where this goes, but I can't and won't go back into the closet. If you're not in that place yet, that's okay. I'm not pressuring you whatsoever and I fully respect your choice. I just want you to know your options," Emily explained. She went to turn and walk away when she felt Spencer's hand refusing to let go of hers. Spencer pulled Emily back fiercely, causing Emily to come towards her at a fast pace. She caught Emily in her arms and, quickly placing her hand behind the swimmer's head and capturing their lips together. Emily smiled into the kiss, both her hands coming up to either side of Spencer's shoulders. It started off soft and gentle but immediately heated up as Emily began rubbing up and down Spencer's arms while the other girl's hands travelled down Emily's back and around her waist, pulling the girl in even closer. Emily's tongue lightly grazed over Spencer's lips, requesting access for a split second before their tongues collided. Spencer moaned into the deepened kiss as Emily wrapped her arms around Spencer's neck, the two of them holding virtually no space in between their chests. They battled for dominance until finally Spencer broke away, panting for air. She mentally noted that her endurance was sub par compared to someone who literally held her breath as a recreational activity. The two of them caught their breath, still standing in the same position; Emily with her arms wrapped around Spencer's neck and Spencer's arms wrapped around Emily's waist.

"I choose you," Spencer whispered as Emily smiled and leaned her forehead against the other girl's. The two remained like that for minutes in silence, taking each other in. Suddenly, Spencer abruptly pulled away and began to pull Emily towards the path back to the parking lot.

"Where are we going?" Emily asked curiously, allowing herself to be led by the girl in front of her. She took this moment to appreciate what had just happened. Emily was finally starting to move on and come to terms with what had happened these past five months. She was finally healing, and could think of nobody better to do that with than Spencer Hastings.

"We're going to tell my parents, and then Hanna and Aria," Spencer declared. Emily nodded absentmindedly, still stuck in her train of thought. It took her a few moments to comprehend what Spencer had just stated, and then finally her mind slightly registered it, making her pause in her spot, letting go of Spencer's hand.

"Wait, what?" Emily didn't expect Spencer to want to jump right into it immediately. And she certainly didn't expect to have to be with the girl when she finally came out to her parents, because in all truth and honesty, Emily was terrified of the Hastings family. Their success and ability to mindlessly be perfect was intimidating. Emily feared the possible outcomes of what was to come, however it seemed to not faze Spencer whatsoever.

"Come on, Fields! Fun is about to ensue," Spencer sarcastically called out to Emily who was now several steps behind the shorter girl. Emily hesitantly began to catch up to her all the while thinking that in the end it would all be worth it - for her.

* * *

"I'll do whatever you want me to do for the next two weeks," Emily offered as she walked next to Spencer. The girls were slowly approaching the Hastings property with Spencer driving and Emily in the passenger seat. They were on their way to reveal the sudden development that had occurred between the two best friends.

"Tempting as that is... Not a chance, Em," Spencer denied for the umpteenth time. Emily had been trying to barter with her the entire ride home. At this point she was willing to do anything to escape what was sure to be an awkward conversation between her, Spencer, and the Hastings family. However, Spencer was adamant about Emily's presence being paramount. She admitted that the only way that she would feel invincible were if Emily was by her side the entire time; something Emily respected and understood. She just wished that she didn't have to do it. Emily let out a sigh of defeat and slumped in the passenger seat with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She wore a slight pout, to which Spencer found absolutely adorable. "Don't slouch, Em. It promotes bad posture," Spencer teased.

"It's my pity party and I'll slouch if I want to," Emily shot back as she jokingly stuck her tongue out. Spencer giggled at how cute the girl was being. She let the girl's bitterness slide, as she understood where Emily was coming from. Spencer was even intimidated by her own family, and she was a part of it. She couldn't imagine how nerve racking it was going to be for Emily. But she was so thankful that Emily was willing to do this for her. Even Toby avoided confrontation when it came to the Hastings. But no matter how much the swimmer complained Spencer knew Emily would always support her. Wanting to show her appreciation, Spencer lifted her hand off of the gearshift and took Emily's in hers. She lifted Emily's hand to her mouth and kissed it softly. "What was that for?" Emily softly asked.

"Being amazing. I wouldn't be able to do this with anybody but you. Not even Hanna or Aria. So thank you," Spencer confessed. Emily gripped Spencer's hand and put it to her cheek, slowly moving it down and placing soft kisses into her palm.

"You're welcome. I can't say I would have done this for anyone else, but for you I'd do it a thousand times," Emily admitted cheekily. Spencer stopped her car, having arrived at her house and turned to Emily with a calm look and a smile.

"You're the best," Spencer stated as she leaned in a placed a soft peck on Emily's lips. Emily smiled into the brief kiss, returning it while she could.

"Only the best for you. Now let's go and see about that fun you promised me, eh?" Emily joked as she opened the door to exit the vehicle. Spencer did the same and the two girls walked around the back of the house to the back door across from the barn, from where they usually would enter. The girls walked up the path hand in hand towards the house when they both heard voices that immediately caused them to halt.

"It just seems a little suspicious, Veronica. Why would you want to defend Garrett Reynolds? The man who killed your daughter's best friend," Detective Wilden began.

"Accused of," Veronica Hastings corrected. "I'm a lawyer, it's my job to offer the best defense that my practice is able to provide; regardless of circumstance. And besides, Garrett pleads a plausible case."

"Yeah, that's what I've been hearing. But the evidence is there, Mrs. Hastings," Wilden emphasized.

"Circumstantial, Darren. And what interest do you have in this?" Veronica shot back. "You've spent God knows how long trying to pin this murder on my daughter and her friends. And now here you are trying to coax me out of providing Garrett with a strong attorney?"

Darren paused, a slight grin on his face as Veronica looked at him in irritation. It was hard to not want to slap the smile off of his face.

"It's funny, isn't it? How no matter the situation, it always somehow comes back to your family," Darren pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if the St. Germain murder investigation -"

"Oh don't you dare, Wilden," Veronica cut him off.

Spencer and Emily stood outside the Hastings residence having heard everything that was said between the two. Upon hearing the mention of Maya, Spencer had enough. She took Emily's hand and led her away from her home, back to her car. Emily remained silent the entire way through, to which Spencer took note. She didn't want to ask the swimmer what made her go quiet, out of fear of it being in relation to Maya. So she just drove.

The two had been parked for about 10 minutes, still sitting in silence. Spencer was playing the conversation over and over on her head. The fact that her mother had apparently taken the Reynolds case had been a big hit to her heart. However, what hurt her more was the mention that Wilden was possibly putting a case together against she and her friends for the death of Maya. Who was he to do that - to say that one of them would kill the former love of Emily's life? Emily still sat completely voiceless as she had for the past half hour. She moved to lean her head against the passenger side window, her eyes facing forward. Spencer noticed her movements and opted to comfort the girl. She gently took Emily's left hand in her right, intertwining their fingers as her thumb softly stroked the girl's.

"Even Wilden thinks we're to blame," Emily stated, her first words in half an hour. Spencer's heart began to race in anxiousness for her. It was exactly has she feared. Emily was going back to that place - the place of which Spencer had just pulled her out. She wasn't about to let it happen.

"No, Em. I won't let you do that to your-" Spencer was cut off.

"But it's true, Spencer!" Emily stated, her voice higher than usual. "And he has every right to say it, because even if I didn't kill her myself, being in my life was the death sentence."

"Emily, stop it! You can't just keep putting yourself in that place, I won't let you do that anymore!" Spencer emphasized desperately.

"And why the hell not?!" Emily shot back exasperatedly.

"Because it was never your fault! Because nobody deserves that kind of weight on their shoulders!" Spencer spoke, her voice beginning to go from firm to shaky as she tried to keep her composure. "Because I spent all summer worrying about if you would be okay. Because not only are you my best friend, you're also one of the most important parts of my life. And because," Spencer's voice was now a whisper as she put her hand on Emily's cheek, wiping away a stray tear that the girl had let fall as she pulled the girl in closer "as of today, that's kind of my job."

Emily smiled; she knew the girl was just looking out for her best interest. And she was doing a good job thus far. Emily took Spencer's hand off of her cheek and softly kissed the inside of it. Spencer relaxed at the gesture, knowing she had gotten through to the girl.

"Thank you, Spence," Emily told the girl, which put a smile on Spencer's face.

"Anything for you. Now come on," Spencer said as she got out of the vehicle. Emily wondered where Spencer was going, and then realized that she herself didn't know where they were. Emily exited the car after Spencer and walked towards her.

"Where are we?" Emily questioned. Spencer took her hand and started to lead her towards their destination. They were walking from a gravel path where the car had been parked, towards what looked like a clearing in the distance.

"Somewhere I think you'll absolutely love," Spencer explained as they entered the clearing and she pointed towards an empty park. It had slides, a jungle gym, monkey bars, and of course Emily's favourite; swings. Her face lit up with excitement and amusement as Emily began to pull Spencer towards the playground. She rushed towards the swing set, not even bothering to take off her shoes to enter the sand. Emily plopped herself on the swing as Spencer came behind her and wrapped her arms around the girl, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. "You are unbelievably adorable, m'dear."

"And you are unbelievably perfect, Spence. How'd you know I love the playground?" Emily asked curiously.

"Well one, I'm Spencer Hastings. And two, I listen," Spencer began to explain as she started to lightly push Emily on the swings. "You would always tell us how much you loved it when your dad brought you to the park. You said it was the only place where you felt as though you didn't have a single worry or care in the world. It was just you on the swings with your dad pushing. And while I can't give you your dad, I'm more than happy to oblige to pushing you."

"Well there are definitely perks to you being my best friend. You have an impressive memory, Spencer Hastings. And I'm glad you listened," Emily told the girl. The two continued on the swings, and they'd play games. Spencer would see how hard she could push Emily, Emily would see how high she could get on the swings without feeling like she would fall off, and the two would see which of them could swing the highest on their own. Spencer let Emily win every single time.

As the sun showed signs that it was about to set, the two girls remained at the playground with Spencer standing in front of a seated Emily as they shared soft kisses on the swing set. Spencer had her hand in the locks of Emily's hair as she held her in place, softly caressing the girl's lips with her own. Emily had her arms on Spencer's legs, pulling her in tighter. Though the kisses began innocently, Emily couldn't help but yearn for more. She ran her tongue across Spencer's lips before entering the girl's mouth. Spencer moaned into the kiss and dropped her hand to the crook of Emily's neck as their tongues fought for dominance. Emily wanted to feel more of Spencer, so she pulled the girl down and made her sit on the swimmer's lap. Without breaking the kiss, Spencer sat down and wrapped an arm around the shoulder of Emily to maintain balance. Emily ran her hand down Spencer's side and reached for the hem of her shirt, wanting to feel the soft skin underneath it. Before she could though, a vibration occurred between the two of them, which caused Emily to let out a moan as she broke their kiss.

"What was that?" Emily questioned, panting as she was out of breath.

"I don't know but it sounded like you enjoyed it," Spencer joked as Emily gave her a glare. "I'm kidding. It was my phone, one second." Spencer reached into her pocket to retrieve her cellphone. There were five missed calls and seven text messages. One missed call from Hanna and the rest split between Melissa and her mother. Spencer showed Emily her phone, which prompted her to immediately worry.

"I need to go take care of this," Spencer declared as she motioned to her phone. Emily nodded as Spencer began to lift herself up, only to be stopped by the other girl. She looked at the girl underneath her, confused as to why she was stopping her from getting up.

"Based on what we overheard today, I think it might actually make more sense if we keep this to ourselves for a little while, don't you think?" Emily suggested. Spencer couldn't tell if Emily was doing this to cut her some slack, or if she was serious. But after giving it some brief thought, it did seem logical.

"Are you sure, Em? I agree with what you're saying though. I mean..." Spencer tried to think of the most delicate way to word her opinion. "If they are, in fact, building a case against any of us, the last thing they need is a slough of fresh motives."

"Exactly. It's safer for everyone's sake if they just remain ignorantly bliss. Hopefully A doesn't bust us, but in the mean time we'll be safer, and it'll give you time to be more comfortable too," Emily agreed as she took Spencer's hand and led them back to the car. "Plus, sometimes sneaking around might be kind of hot," she joked. Spencer let out a giggle and shook her head.

"Well I guess we're going to have to find out now, won't we?" Spencer stated flirtatiously. The two reached the SUV and quickly took off for her house, interested to see what all the commotion was about. They drove in a comfortable silence, their hands interlocked as Spencer's thumb traced mindlessly around Emily's hand. Not long after, they arrived at the front of the Fields' house. Spencer put her car into park and looked over at Emily to see her peacefully resting her eyes. She smiled to herself as she took a minute to appreciate what was sitting in front of her. Though she didn't want to Spencer knew she had to wake the sleeping girl in front of her, so she let go of their intertwined hands and brought hers to Emily's cheek, and gently caressed it. "Em? Wake up we're home," she whispered softly.

Emily stirred in her seat and let out a light yawn before opening her eyes to meet Spencer's. Immediately Emily began to blush, embarrassed that she had fallen asleep so quickly. Not that Spencer minded, of course. She was adorably peaceful in her state of being.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep," she apologized. And though it wasn't necessary, Spencer appreciated the girl's manners.

"I wish I didn't have to wake you. You looked so peaceful I almost stopped myself," Spencer joked as the swimmer continued to blush and smile softly.

"Well I shouldn't keep you any longer. I wouldn't want you to keep your family waiting longer than they already have. Now that I have to be on their good side and everything," Emily said playfully as Spencer rolled her eyes before laughing.

"They already love you, Em. Really, they endlessly go on about how dedicated you are to swimming, and how strong you are and all that good stuff. If anything, they'll love you even more for making their daughter happy," Spencer reassured as she pulled the girl in, putting her palm to Emily's cheek and then placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "Now go, before I lose all self-control and drive off with you still in the car."

Emily pulled Spencer in for a tight hug, taking all of her in before letting her go. She unbuckled herself and exited the car, and then proceeded to lean into the now open window of the car.

"Thank you again for an amazing day. Never thought I'd get to see the soft, romantic Hastings in you. But I'm glad you let me in. Let me know that you got home safe, and tell me how it goes okay?" Emily asked. Spencer nodded and smiled before Emily turned and headed towards her house. The girl waited in her car to make sure that Emily got into her house safely before taking off towards her own home.

**Thoughts? Comments? Reviews? Suggestions? Let me know! And thank you to everyone for the support thus far (:**


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Better With You

Rating: T with potential for M (Will warn if it gets to that)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Pretty Little Liars

Summary: After spending a large portion of their Summer apart, the girls are back together for their senior year at Rosewood High. Mona is in Radley, Garrett's been arrested, Maya is dead, and emotions still run high. Emily returns from Haiti in hopes to move past what she's been put through, and finds happiness in an unexpected place. A Spemily focused story with mentions of Ezria and Haleb. Storyline with "A" but not the main focus. The story follows the regular season one and two storyline, and begins after the opening scene of season three, however the night ends differently.

**A/N - Anything in italics is a flashback! Thank you.**

**Chapter Four - Teasing to Please**

It was late into Friday afternoon as Spencer and Emily lay beside each other on Emily's bed. The two had been studying, or at least trying to study, but were constantly interrupted when either one would spontaneously try to steal kisses from the other. Of course one kiss led to five, which led to Emily on top of Spencer, their lips softly molded together like the perfect sculpture. It was as though their bodies were a perfect match for one another; legs tangled together as Spencer ran her hands up Emily's shirt to feel the soft bare skin that lay beneath it while Emily lost her fingers in the tendrils of Spencer's silk hair. Getting caught up in the moment, Spencer began to lightly dig her nails into the sides of Emily, which caused her to let out a moan while she pulled away. The two locked gazes as they breathed heavily, both trying to slow the quickened pattering of their beating hearts.

"You know, if I knew this was how study sessions with Spencer Hastings were, I'd have signed up a long time ago," Emily joked as she continued to look down at Spencer, moving a hand out of her hair so that she could prop herself up on an elbow. She felt Spencer's laugh underneath her as the girls were still pressed against each other.

"Well what can I say, we aim to please," Spencer replied with a smile on her face. Emily admired her smile momentarily while beginning to move off of the girl beneath her. A move to which Spencer attempted to stop.

"Come on, Spence we should really get back to studying. If I don't pass, I'm a junior once again. And if that happens then Mona the monster will be getting a new roommate pretty damn quickly," Emily stated. Spencer giggled at the beautiful girl hovering on top of her. She pulled her down for one more kiss before allowing the girl to move from her spot.

"Alright, pretty girl. Lets tackle some physics," Spencer suggested as she glanced at her watch. "We've got another hour before I have to go meet Wren for coffee."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Emily stated while rolling her eyes. The swimmer stood up and walked over to her desk, sitting in the chair as she opened her physics textbook. Spencer came behind her and placed her arms on her shoulders, gently massaging them.

"Believe me, I don't want to go any more than you want me to. But if I don't, I think Hanna will actually try and take my head off," Spencer explained to Emily before placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"Yeah, I guess she was pretty mad the other day," Emily acknowledged.

* * *

_"Maybe we're just misinterpreting what Mona meant. Maybe we're overthinking it," Spencer suggested as she paced around Hanna's room. Her three friends sat on the bed, watching as Spencer tried to rationalize the information that Hanna had just released to her. Hanna had just finished visiting Mona at Radley, and the girls were gathered together at Hanna's room for a debriefing._

_"Spence, her exact words were 'you can't trust anyone these days. Not even family'. We have video evidence that easily puts Melissa in Ali's grasp the night that she went missing! What more do you want?! You need to talk to her, or talk to Wren or do something to find out what Melissa has been up to, because as far as I'm concerned she's the only one that could fit into the size 2 skinny criteria," Hanna shot back._

_"Okay guys, you know what; I don't even know why you're getting so worked up about this, that new text was probably bogus anyways. It's not like we've gotten anything else." Aria suggested, trying to cool the conversation before Hanna and Spencer began to jump down each other's throats again. Spencer glanced over at Emily before looking to the ground, knowing that Aria's observation was inaccurate. Hanna picked up on the awkward silence that suddenly came over the two, and immediately began to worry._

_"Unless… You two aren't sharing something?" Hanna questioned, looking back and forth between Spencer and Emily, aware that they were obviously hiding something. Spencer slowly looked up from the ground, trying to find Emily's eyes. The two locked eyes and Emily gave her a reassuring look, as though to let her know that she was ready to support the approach that Spencer would take towards this situation. Spencer let out a soft sigh before speaking._

_"I, um… I actually got a text yesterday. Someone was watching me," Spencer stated quietly. Emily immediately stood from her spot on the bed and went to Spencer to comfort her. She put one arm around the girl, pulling her close in as she rubbed the side of Spencer's arm. She glanced at Hanna and Aria as if to tell them not to press Spencer on the topic at hand, something that was particularly difficult for Hanna. "What else did Mona say?"_

_"She also said some crap about apples," Hanna stated nonchalantly. The girls all sported a confusing look on their faces as they looked to Hanna for further explanation. "She said that normally people say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but in this case the bitter apple was misplaced under its branch. Whatever that means."_

_Emily's eyebrows crinkled in response to the new information that Hanna revealed._

_"Bitter apple misplaced… Like Jason? I mean he wasn't exactly a planned kid…" Emily trailed off in thought._

_"It couldn't be Jason. Jason wouldn't put one of his NAT buddies in jail. Plus, Jason has been out of town since the fire," Spencer defended quickly. She couldn't stand it when people put her family in the line of fire. Jason may have been an illegitimate child, but he was her brother and that meant more to her than who conceived whom._

_"Okay, well what about Jenna?" Hanna suggested as the girls turned to her direction with baffled looks. "What? Toby wasn't very happy when his dad married her into the family. She's bitter, and she's misplaced. Tell me how that wouldn't make sense." The others glanced at each other, trying to maintain their composure at Hanna's assumption._

_"That's a great thought process and all Han, but you're forgetting one tiny little detail," Aria started. Hanna looked at her group of friends with a confused look, genuinely not understanding what she was possibly missing. Spencer noticed this and instantly rolled her eyes._

_"She's friggen blind, Han! Not to mention someone literally tried to barbecue her inside of Jason DiLaurentis' house not long ago," Spencer elaborated._

_"That's the point, Spencer! You didn't seriously buy her whole spiel the hospital did you? She's probably out for blood! Our blood! You don't think she could find another seeing-eye dog to do her dirty work for her? Look, if it's not Jason then what other bitter apple from the family tree could it be?" Hanna questioned. The girls remained silent at Hanna's inquiry, knowing there was no other logical answer. "Spence, why don't you bring it up to Toby the next time you see him and see if he knows if she spent her summer playing Chinese checkers with Mad House Mona."_

_Spencer froze in spot, not expecting Toby to be brought up. She quickly glanced over at Emily, neither knowing what to do or say. The other two immediately picked up on the tension that had been brought on by the mention of Toby's name._

_"I think I'm seeing Toby tomorrow, I can bring it up to him," Emily piped in, hoping it wasn't too late to pull attention away from the awkwardness of the situation. Spencer let out an audible gulp in hopes that she wouldn't have to explain herself, but it was to no avail._

_"What are you not telling us?" Aria questioned slowly. Emily focused her attention on the ground below her as Spencer tried to avoid eye contact with any of the other girls._

_"Nothing," Spencer insisted. "I just don't see how getting him involved will get us anywhere."_

_"Cut the crap, Spence. You're keeping something from us. If we've learned anything from the past year, don't you think it's that we shouldn't keep things from each other?" Hanna stated firmly. Spencer sighed deeply, knowing Hanna was right. She shouldn't keep anything from any of the girls. But she didn't think she was ready to tell them the whole truth. That was something she was working towards. However, she knew they'd find out about Toby sooner or later. It only made sense she let them know before someone else did._

_"Okay, fine. You're right. Look, the reason I don't want to involve Toby is because we broke up, alright?" Spencer took a deep breath. "So if it's okay with you, Hanna, I would appreciate us not going to Toby. I'll talk to Wren about Melissa and see if he knows anything about her and her baby, we can talk to Jenna, whatever. Just, no Toby. Please."_

* * *

"At least they know the truth now though. Well, part of it," Emily stated optimistically. The girl began to flip through pages of her physics textbook while jotting down notes and answering questions to the practice tests Spencer had made for her. "Even if it ended up with you having to go on a coffee date with Wren."

"Is that a slight hint of jealousy I detect right now, Fields?" Spencer questioned jokingly. Emily rolled her eyes and tried to keep a stern look on her face. "'Cause if it is, it's kind of sexy on you."

Emily let out a laugh that filled the room. Spencer felt her heart swell at the sound, thinking it was the most beautiful sound in the world. She glanced down at her girl who was now scribbling down a world of notes. Emily could feel the girl's eyes piercing through her. She glanced up, trying to keep a serious look on her face.

"But in all seriousness, if he even thinks of touching you, I hope he knows how to put a cast on himself. Because I might break his legs," Emily declared. Spencer laughed once more before kissing the top of the girl's head and then proceeding to move in close behind her, leaning over her left shoulder to look at the work the swimmer had done. Emily focused on completing the problem in front of her, but the feeling of Spencer's body pressed against the back of her had sent her mind into a frenzy. The raven-haired girl held her pencil still to the paper, trying to calm the apparent nerves that Spencer had caused to build up inside of her. Spencer ran her fingers through Emily's hair, pulling back a small portion of it and placing feather kisses on the girl's neck. Emily's pulse began to race quicker and quicker as Spencer moved her lips to her ear.

"You know, you're ready for Physics. You haven't gotten a single question wrong," Spencer whispered huskily into the girl's ear before continuing to nip at Emily's exposed skin. Emily closed her eyes as she tried to maintain her composure, but Spencer was proving to be particularly distracting. Emily lifted her left arm to Spencer's head and began to run her fingers through Spencer's hair as the brunette moved to the swimmer's ear once again. "How about we move onto English?"

"How about we move onto the bed?" Emily suggested without skipping a beat. She turned and stood up, coming face to face with Spencer as she wrapped her arms around the girl's waist, pulling her in close. Spencer glanced to the ceiling as though she was pondering Emily's request.

"No no, Em. You wanted to study, remember?" Spencer reminded the girl as she threw a smirk on her face, knowing she was driving Emily insane. The swimmer's face went from desire to disbelief within seconds.

"You…!" Emily struggled to formulate words as she pointed a finger at Spencer. "You are such a tease!"

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about, gorgeous. We've got work to do though, Hemingway awaits us," Spencer replied back still maintaining the slight grin on her face. Emily rolled her eyes at Spencer, partly in irritation because she knew the two of them should be studying, and partly because Spencer got Emily completely riled up only to shut her down.

"You. Are cruel. And mean. And evil," Emily told Spencer as she took her hands off the girl's waist and crossed them over her chest in frustration. Spencer giggled at how incredibly adorable the girl in front of her was. She reached up to Emily's face with her palm and cupped her cheek, gently moving her thumb against Emily's skin.

"But Em, I figure if we conquer some English right now then it'll give you enough time to finish it tomorrow afternoon. Which means your evening will be free for me to take you out on a date," Spencer explained. Emily's face instantly lit up at the thought of going on a date with her. Spencer could see in her eyes the amount of excitement that was beginning to build up in Emily's mind, and it instantly made her smile. "So what do you say? Will you go out on a date with me tomorrow night?"

Emily couldn't contain the grin that was now plastered on her face as she let out a light squeal.

"Spencer Hastings is offering to wine and dine me? How could I say no to that? Tomorrow night, I'm all yours," Emily stated before pulling Spencer in for a warm, soft kiss. "As for English, I'll be perfectly fine to finish up by tomorrow afternoon. What do you say we just cuddle for a bit before you have to head out?"

Without answering, Spencer took Emily's hand and pulled her towards the bed. She climbed onto the bed and brought Emily to her side, wrapping her arm around the swimmer as Emily rested her head on Spencer's chest. Emily put her arm across Spencer's waist, cuddling in as close as she possibly could. The two remained silent and almost still for the rest of their study session, with Spencer brushing her fingers through Emily's hair as Emily traced circles on the small area of exposed skin on Spencer's waist. The sound of Spencer's beating heart soothed Emily as the two basked in each other's presence, able to appreciate the moment of calmness in their otherwise chaotic lives.

**Thoughts? Comments? Reviews? Suggestions? Sorry for the late update, I should have the next one up to go on time though! Cheers to everyone who has shown support. **


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Better With You

Rating: T with potential for M (Will warn if it gets to that)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Pretty Little Liars

Summary: After spending a large portion of their Summer apart, the girls are back together for their senior year at Rosewood High. Mona is in Radley, Garrett's been arrested, Maya is dead, and emotions still run high. Emily returns from Haiti in hopes to move past what she's been put through, and finds happiness in an unexpected place. A Spemily focused story with mentions of Ezria and Haleb. Storyline with "A" but not the main focus. The story follows the regular season one and two storyline, and begins after the opening scene of season three, however the night ends differently.

**Chapter 5 – You've Got Me Coming Undone**

Emily absent-mindedly flipped the page of her novel, trying to focus on the words in front of her. However, she just couldn't. In about three hours she was going on her first date with Spencer Hastings; possibly one of the most nerve racking experiences for which to get ready. Emily had absolutely no idea what to expect, or how to prepare herself for it. She felt more nervous in that moment than she had before any test or competition she had ever experienced. Emily glanced at the clock once more to see it change to 5pm, exactly three hours before their date. Figuring she had studied enough, she used that as justifiable cause to put her books away and begin to pick out an outfit. Emily stood in front of her closet with absolutely no idea as to where to begin. Just as she was reaching for a shirt, her phone rang. Not looking to see who was on the other end of the call, Emily answered it.

"Yes?" Emily questioned in a slightly irritated tone. There was a silence on the other end of the line, to which Emily rolled her eyes. "Hellooooo? Anyone there?" She asked again, the tone of her voice getting more and more sharp.

"So judging by how irritated you sound, I'm guessing you're totally stressing over tonight aren't you?" the voice on the other end of the phone inquired. Emily's demeanor immediately softened at the voice on the other end.

"You're distracting me, you dork. What's up Spence?" Emily asked, her voice more upbeat now that she knew who was calling. She held the phone between her ear and her shoulder while using both hands to flip through the shirts in her closet.

"Well if I know you, I'm betting you just gave up on studying because you literally were going to spend the next 3 hours panicking over what to wear. And because I've yet to receive a call from Hanna or Aria shrieking into the phone about us not telling them we were going on a date, I can conclude that you haven't sought to either of them for help which means you're currently standing in front of your closet, browsing through every single article of clothing you own. How accurate am I right about now?" Spencer questioned. Emily looked around her room, as if she was expecting to see Spencer standing right behind her.

"You didn't put hidden cameras in my room did you? Because I'm pretty sure there are laws against that," Emily joked, but legitimately impressed at how well Spencer knew her. "Seriously though, how did you know that?"

"I'm Spencer Hastings, its kind of my job," she replied sarcastically. "I was just calling to see if maybe I could lend you a hand. And by that I mean check that middle drawer you have on the bottom of your wardrobe."

Emily raised here eyebrow in suspicion, wondering if Spencer was being serious. She glanced down at the drawer in front of her and kneeled to open it. Inside she found her black combat boots sitting on top of a box she didn't remember putting in there before. Emily lifted the items out of the drawer and opened the box to see her favourite pair of dark blue jeans that had a rip in the knee. These were accompanied by a black graphic tanktop, her black leather jacket with the grey hoodie, and her favourite necklace. Emily smiled to herself, thinking it was the perfect outfit – something she probably would have picked out herself.

"Spencer Hastings, are you trying to dress me?" Emily asked playfully before letting out a laugh. She could hear Spencer laugh through the line too, and it brought a smile to her face.

"Yesterday I figured that if I did it, you wouldn't have to panic over what you were going to wear and then you'd have more time to study. Plus, it's literally a combination of my favourite things to see you in. So I put that stuff to the side yesterday when you went downstairs to get us drinks," she explained shyly.

"But that was way before we even decided to go on a date," Emily pointed out, confused but happy at the gesture that Spencer pulled off for her.

"I guess you could say I was pretty confident you'd agree to the date," Spencer joked. "You don't have to wear it if you don't like it, I just wanted to help."

"It's perfect, Spence thank you. I was definitely on the verge of freaking out before you called, so you're a life saver," Emily told the girl sincerely.

"I'm glad. Now, get back to studying and I'll see you in a few hours," she replied.

The two said their goodbyes and Emily laid out her clothes on her bed, looking them over once again with a smile on her face before turning back to her desk to continue studying.

* * *

Emily looked at herself in the mirror for the umpteenth time as she put the finishing touches on her make up. It was near 8pm now and she was showered, changed and almost ready to go. She ran her fingers through the waves of her hair, wanting to make sure she looked absolutely perfect. As she did this, she heard the doorbell ring followed by the muffled sound of her mom and Spencer conversing.

"Emmy! Spencer's here!" Her mom shouted from the bottom of the staircase.

Emily took one last look at herself before leaving her bathroom and heading downstairs. She descended down the steps to see Spencer standing in the foyer of her house with Pam Fields, the two of them talking animatedly. She looked beautiful top to bottom. Her long brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, which were covered by her navy blue blazer. Underneath it was a white deep V-neck tee, and she wore black skinny denim jeans coupled with black Toms to complete the outfit. It was simple, but Spencer made the ordinary look extraordinary. Spencer briefly broke eye contact with Pam to see Emily coming down the stairs. She put a faint smile on her face, trying not to get too distracted from the conversation she was having. Emily noticed how polite Spencer was trying to be to her mother, and found it absolutely adorable. She came up behind Pam and put her hand on her shoulder, which prompted Pam to stop talking.

"Hey Spence, ready to go?" Emily questioned. Spencer nodded and Emily maneuvered around her mom to grab the purse that was hanging near the wall beside her.

"It was nice to see you, Mrs. Fields," Spencer politely told her before moving towards the door.

"You too, Spencer," she replied. "Be safe, you two."

"We will, mom!" Emily responded. She quickly gave her mom a kiss on the cheek before following Spencer outside the door. They walked to Spencer's SUV and as soon as they both entered the SUV Emily reached over to Spencer and pulled her in for a kiss, which caught Spencer off guard at first, but she immediately reciprocated. The two slowly parted and a smile formed on Spencer's lips.

"Hello to you too," she let out before turning her attention towards the vehicle, starting it and pulling away from Emily's house.

"You look great, Spence," Emily said shyly as she took Spencer's hand off the gearshift and intertwined their fingers. Spencer squeezed her hand in Emily's.

"Not as great as you, but thank you. And no, I'm not telling you where we're going no matter how many compliments you throw my way," Spencer told the girl. She glanced over at Emily to see her grin slightly before muttering 'damn' under her breath. Spencer laughed inwardly at how cute Emily was being. "Just sit back, relax, and we'll be there in no time."

* * *

Emily glanced out the window to see Spencer drive past the 'Welcome to Rosewood' sign. This threw off Emily, as she didn't expect to be leaving the city.

"Not that I don't trust you Spence, but this is definitely how horror movies start," Emily spoke hesitantly as she looked over to Spencer with a look of concern. Spencer laughed, but could tell that Emily was genuinely worried with where they were going at this point.

"I promise, I'm not about to recreate the Blair Witch Project. Matter of fact look up ahead. We're just about here," Spencer stated as she nodded towards the road in front of her. Emily changed her line of vision just in time to see bright lights flashing. The look on her face changed from one of worry to one of pure excitement as she saw a huge flashing sign that said 'Rosewood Carnival'. She could see the lights from the ferris wheel among other rides completely illuminating the night sky. Emily was completely awe-struck at the sight in front of her and she held a smile on her face from the point she saw the carnival to when Spencer pulled into the lot and turned off her car. Spencer looked over at the girl beside her and could see how excited and speechless Emily was.

"Ready to go, pretty girl?" Spencer asked with a smile on her face. Emily looked to her and nodded her head excitedly. Spencer let out a laugh and gave Emily a peck on the lips before exiting the car. Emily followed, getting out of her side of the car. She came around the side to see Spencer standing with a single red rose in her hand. The brunette handed it to Emily who took it and thanked her by giving her a soft kiss on the lips. After they separated, Emily linked their hands together and the two headed towards the carnival entrance. Emily leaned her head on Spencer's shoulder as they walked in. They came to the gate, and without hesitation Spencer paid the admission for the two of them, allowing them entrance to the grounds and access to the rides. The two stood at the front of the carnival and took in what was in front of them. Carnival rides, carnival food, carnival games; Spencer didn't know where to begin.

"Rides first?" Emily asked with a tone of complete excitement in her voice. Spencer smiled and nodded.

"We'll do whatever you want. Just lead the way, beautiful," Spencer told her. Emily happily grinned and led the two towards the rides area.

* * *

The two girls walked along the carnival grounds as the night wound down and the grounds became more and more quiet. The girls were in a comfortable silence, just enjoying the atmosphere and the presence of each other. They'd gone on almost every ride, shared a variety of carnival food, and exchanged story after story of funny carnival experiences they'd both had in the past. Emily had her arms interlocked around Spencer's right arm, with her head leaning on her shoulder as Spencer had her head leaning on Emily's.

"We still have one ride left," Emily stated, breaking the silence.

"Yeah? Which one's that?" Spencer questioned.

"The best one. The ferris wheel!" Emily replied giddily. Spencer let out a slight groan when hearing her suggestion. "What's wrong with the ferris wheel?! I love the ferris wheel, it's the best ride there is!" Spencer sighed, contemplating whether or not she should tell Emily the truth.

"Okay, promise you won't laugh?" Spencer asked seriously. She felt Emily's head nod underneath hers. "Don't go telling people this, cuz only my parents and Melissa know about it, but I'm deathly afraid of heights. Like extremely irrationally afraid." Emily remained silent for a few seconds before Spencer felt her start to chuckle. The brunette stopped in her spot and pulled away from her. "Hey, you said you wouldn't laugh!"

"I'm not laughing because of your fear of heights, you dork. I'm laughing because for a while there I was beginning to think you weren't human. Seriously Spence, you're probably the most perfect person I know. It's just interesting that you have fears you sometimes struggle to conquer too," Emily explained. Spencer smiled at the explanation for a brief moment before linking their arms together and leading the two of them in a new direction. "Where are we going?"

"You're going to help me conquer my fears," Spencer stated.

"Spence, we don't have to do this," Emily told the girl, not wanting Spencer to feel pressured into doing anything she didn't want to. The girls, not far from the ferris wheel, approached the empty line up and walked towards the operator, waiting to be let on.

"Em, if there's anyone I want by my side to conquer my fears with, I'd want it to be you. Just, try and distract me will ya?" Spencer requested. Emily nodded as the two of them were let onto the ride. The operator closed and secured the gate before returning to his booth.

The ride came to life as the operator started it, and the girls began their ascent in the ferris wheel. As the ride slowly made its way to the top, Spencer gripped the lap bar in front of her so tightly that her knuckles were turning red. Emily noticed Spencer's unease and tried to think of anything she possibly could to distract the girl beside her. Spencer's breathing became slightly uneasy the higher they got, and Emily tried to calm her by moving towards the girl and cuddling beside her. Spencer let out a deep sigh, trying to calm her nerves but it just wasn't working. Emily tried to take one of Spencer's hands off the lap bar, but Spencer struggled to allow her to do so.

"Em, the lap bar is here for safety reasons. You're meant to hold on with both hands," Spencer stated matter-of-factly. Emily giggled and placed a kiss on Spencer's cheek trying to calm her down.

"Rules are meant to be broken, babe. I just want to cuddle closer to you. Come on Spence, you can do it," Emily eased on. Spencer sighed and allowed Emily to move her arm so that Emily was cuddled into her side, with Spencer's arm resting around her. "See, that wasn't so bad right?" Spencer nodded.

"Yeah. I guess it wasn't," Spencer let out, her voice shaky. Emily's head was resting on Spencer's chest, and she could hear the increased heart beat of the nervous girl. She was still unable to calm Spencer down. The ferris wheel approached the top and came to a sudden stop. This caused Spencer to squeeze Emily tightly into her, fearful of the fact that the ride was no longer moving. "What the hell was that?"

"Relax Spence, breathe. They must be letting people off at the bottom. It'll start again soon," Emily told her in a soothing voice. But Spencer wasn't having any of it. Emily could hear her heart beat faster and faster as the hand that gripped the lap bar tightened. "Did I ever tell you why I like ferris wheels so much?"

"Because you're out of your friggen mind?" Spencer instantly let out. Emily laughed at her response. Her laughter died down, and the two sat in silence momentarily before Spencer spoke out again. "Why do you like them so much?"

"When I was a little kid, I used to be afraid of heights too. I was at a park with my dad once and he let me climb the jungle gym. I got all the way to the top of it without giving it a second thought. And then I looked down, and I screamed my head off," Emily explained and the two shared a laugh. "Anyways, there I was at the top of this jungle gym, screaming and crying. So of course, my dad comes and climbs up to get me. And he reaches me and pulls me into his arms, and I latched my arms around his neck, holding on for dear life while I bawled my eyes out. He told me to close my eyes and he talked to me while he maneuvered us down from the jungle gym. That was the day I thought I would hate heights forever."

"So what changed?" Spencer asked, completely drawn in by the story.

"Well, a while after that incident I was on vacation with my parents, and we were walking through one of these tourist attractions. So there were tons of people around. My dad was holding my hand, but a flood of people pushed through and I ended up letting go of his hand. Of course, I panicked and once again screamed my head off scared out of my mind. My dad followed my scream and found me within minutes, but it felt like hours. To make sure I didn't get lost again, he wanted to put me up on his shoulders. And of course I was not having that, so I put up a big stink about it. But he sat me on a bench and he said 'Emmy, I promise you'll be safe and it'll be okay. I'll have you the entire time. And when you're up that high, it'll just be you and I up that high. We'll be in control of what happens. We'll control your destiny. ' So I let him put me up on his shoulders, and it was the safest I ever felt, knowing that my dad would keep me safe. The first time he left for the military, I was an absolute wreck. To make myself feel better I found the highest spot in Rosewood possible and I just sat there. It was the only place I felt safe, the only place I felt connected to him even though he was God knows where. And it also reminded me that I could control my own destiny. I've loved heights ever since."

Spencer smiled, and took her other hand off the lap bar so that she could wrap Emily in her arms.

"You know, right now is the safest I've felt in my entire life; absolute silence, nobody able to get to us, with you in my arms. You make me feel safe, Em," Spencer pulled away from Emily and tilted her head up, pulling her in for a kiss. The two remained that way, sharing soft kisses together until the ferris wheel went full circle and stopped at the bottom. They pulled apart slowly and shared a smile before exiting the ride, hand in hand.

"Now that wasn't so bad, wasn't it?" Emily asked Spencer who said nothing but just nodded and smiled. They walked through the carnival once again, noticing that the rides were beginning to shut down, and the few people that were left were beginning to trickle out. They approached a Slapshot hockey game and Emily nodded over to it to bring Spencer's attention to what she was looking at. "Wanna play?"

"Sure, lets do it," Spencer agreed. The girls walked up to the carnival worker, asking if they could give it a try.

"Alright ladies, it's $2 a person to play, 5 shots, 5 targets; one on each corner of the net, and a target in the middle. You have a minute to hit as many as you can. The person to hit the most targets wins," he explained. Spencer paid the man and the two girls lined themselves up side by side. A bell rang through the air signaling them to start. Both of them lined up their shots and began to fire. 1-0 Emily. 2-1 Emily. 2-2 tied. 3-2 Emily. The swimmer took her final shot, just barely missing her final target. Spencer glanced over at the girl, seeing her miss. She focused on her shot and took it, also just barely missing, leaving Emily to be the victor in the game.

"Look at you, kicking my butt! Good job sweetheart," Spencer said as she pulled Emily into a hug. She giggled and wrapped her arms around, hugging her back. The two separated and Emily looked to Spencer goofily as she shook her head. "What's the look for?"

"You know for the most competitive person that I know, you sure like letting me win, Spence," Emily told her. Spencer gave her a playful innocent look.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, you beat me fair and square sweetheart," Spencer replied with a smile on her face. Emily smiled back at her as she rolled her eyes, not buying it at all.

"You've played field hockey since you could hold a stick, you goof. You totally let me win. And you let me win at the park the other day on the swings!" Emily pointed out. Spencer looked away, knowing she had been caught. Finally, she caved.

"Alright, fine I maaaaaay have let you win, but I can't help it. The smile on your face when you win is worth losing for. The carnival is almost closed, how about we get super cliché and play one more game so I can win my girl something to bring home?" Spencer asked. Emily smiled and nodded her head in agreement. Spencer took her hand and led her to the traditional 'Spill the Milk' carnival game.

"Isn't this game like impossible, Spence?" Emily questioned. She had always thought this game was one of those games that carnivals used just to make money. She'd never seen anyone actually win it.

"I'm feeling a little lucky today," Spencer replied, winking at the girl as she approached the woman running the game.

"Okay, ma'am $2 gets you two balls to throw which means two chances to win. Object of the game is to knock all three milk bottles off of the platform with one throw. And if you win, you can take a prize," the girl explained. Spencer nodded and handed the girl $2. Instead of blindly throwing the balls, Spencer stood for a moment and examined the three milk bottles that stood on the platform. Emily glanced at the girl with one eyebrow raised, wondering what she was doing. After a minute Spencer stood back and threw her first ball, hitting right in the middle of the three-bottle pyramid. She knocked two of the three bottles off the platform, not enough for the win. The game operator took the bottles and set them back up, letting Spencer take her second throw. Spencer walked forward to the set up once more examining it. A look of realization came over her, and she stepped back for her second throw. She threw the ball as hard as she could, hitting the bottom two bottles square in the middle with enough force that the two bottles fell off, the third one dropping and then falling off the platform as well.

"Winner, winner chicken dinner!" The woman running the game stated loudly. Spencer smiled as Emily jumped in excitement and hugged her side. "Take any stuffed animal you like," she stated while pointing to the wall of prizes. Spencer looked to Emily who looked to the wall of prizes. Finally, she spotted one that stood out to her.

"The tiger," she stated happily as she pointed to the only tiger left on the wall. The game operator took the tiger off the wall and handed it to Emily who eagerly accepted it and cuddled it in her arms. Spencer put her arm around the back of Emily's waist and began to walk the two away from the game, towards the exit of the carnival. "How'd you know how to win that game?"

"As nerdy as this sounds, I did an extra credit project in physics last year about how to beat that game. The first shot was just for suspense," she explained. Emily let out a loud laugh and linked her arm into Spencer's. They approached Spencer's SUV and Spencer opened the door for Emily before coming around to her side and settling in the driver's seat. As she started her car and pulled out of the lot, Emily turned and looked at her.

"Tonight was amazing Spencer. Thank you for an amazing first date," Emily told her as she took Spencer's hand off the gearshift and kissed it before interlocking their fingers together.

The two drove back to town, music playing softly in the background while Spencer gently stroked her thumb across the swimmer's hand as she dozed off in the passenger's seat. About half an hour later, Spencer arrived back at her house. Not having the heart to wake the sleeping girl beside her, Spencer carefully and quietly took Emily out of her car and brought her into her empty house, up to her room. She took the girl's jacket and shoes off and laid her on her bed before going into her closet to find clothes to change into. Spencer changed into shorts and searched for a tank top to wear. She took off the shirt she was wearing and was about to put her tank top on when she heard a noise coming from the bed behind her.

"Am I dreaming?" Emily questioned groggily. Spencer giggled and quickly put her shirt on before turning around to see Emily lying on her side cuddling her stuffed tiger to her chest.

"No, sweetheart you aren't. You're at my house; I couldn't bring myself to wake you up. Before we left I told your mom you might be crashing at my house. So if it's alright with you, you can stay here tonight," Spencer explained as she walked over to Emily and placed a kiss on her forehead. She went back to her closet and took out a pair of shorts and a shirt for Emily to sleep in. Emily accepted the clothes and got up to change in the bathroom. When she came out she found Spencer sitting in her bed with the bedside lamp on, reading a book. Emily climbed into the bed in the spot next to Spencer and pulled her attention away from the book by kissing her. Spencer put the book on her lap and turned to Emily, placing her hand on her face and deepening the kiss. Emily slid her tongue across Spencer's lips before entering her mouth. The brunette moaned into the kiss and pulled Emily over so that she was straddling the girl. Spencer ran her arms behind Emily and slid them under her shirt, caressing the skin underneath her shirt as Emily entangled her fingers in Spencer's hair. The two tongues battled for dominance, which led to Spencer nibbling on Emily's lower lip, which caused the swimmer to grind her body down on Spencer's before pulling away. The two were breathing heavily as they looked at each other lustfully.

"We should slow down," Emily stated while panting. Spencer nodded and Emily got off her lap.

"You're right, we should. Come here," Spencer gestured for Emily to cuddle into her side. Emily scooted towards the girl and put her head on Spencer's chest as Spencer put an arm around Emily and ran her fingers through the girl's long locks of hair. Emily looked up at Spencer and gave her a quick peck on the lips before returning to her position. Spencer reached behind Emily and grabbed her stuffed tiger, giving it to Emily to cuddle as well. Spencer slowly brushed her fingers through Emily's hair, calming her enough to fall asleep. The brunette decided to continue to read her book while Emily slept in her arms.

The room was silent as she continued through her book when suddenly she heard a vibration coming from her nightstand. She glanced over to see one new text message. Spencer put her book down and looked over at the sleeping girl before picking up her phone to check it - 1 new text message from Unknown. Spencer opened the text to see what it said.

'Who knew Spencer Hastings had a soft side? I do, now. Time to find out how far you'll go to protect your girl. Wait for it… -A'

Spencer rolled her eyes at the text message. She refused to let A ruin her perfect date. She turned her phone off and put it back on her nightstand before turning off her bedside lamp. Spencer placed one more kiss on Emily's head before pulling her girl into her arms and falling asleep with her.

**Thoughts? Reviews? Comments? Suggestions? Let me know if you liked it! And you can bet there's some drama headed toward the girls!**


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Better With You

Rating: T with potential for M (Will warn if it gets to that)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Pretty Little Liars

Summary: After spending a large portion of their Summer apart, the girls are back together for their senior year at Rosewood High. Mona is in Radley, Garrett's been arrested, Maya is dead, and emotions still run high. Emily returns from Haiti in hopes to move past what she's been put through, and finds happiness in an unexpected place. A Spemily focused story with mentions of Ezria and Haleb. Storyline with "A" but not the main focus. The story follows the regular season one and two storyline, and begins after the opening scene of season three, however the night ends differently.

**Chapter 6 – A Fine Line Between Love and Sacrifice**

Monday morning came around and Emily was sat in front of the mirror in her room, fixing her hair. She ran her fingers through her long black hair, straightening it out. She stood up from her chair and walked over to her study desk, taking her books and putting them in her bag. Just as she was about ready to go, the door opened. Emily turned around to see Spencer standing in the doorway with a tulip in her hand. She lightly strode over to Spencer with a smile on her face as the girl wrapped Emily in her arms. Emily pulled away briefly and gave her a soft kiss on the lips before stepping back.

"This is for you, pretty girl. No special occasion, just because," Spencer explained as she held the tulip out for Emily. She held it up to her nose; breathing in the floral scent before placing it the vase on her counter with the other flower Spencer had given her from their first date. "Is it weird that I missed you and I just saw you this past Saturday?"

Emily shook her head no; she too had missed the beautiful brunette.

"Not that I don't love seeing you first thing in the morning, but what brings you here?" Emily questioned as she walked back to Spencer and took her hand, pulling her towards the bed. Spencer smiled at Emily, allowing herself to be pulled onto Emily's lap. She wrapped her arms around Emily and moved in for a kiss. The two connected slowly and sensually as Emily ran her hand through Spencer's hair, pulling her in tighter and running her other hand up Spencer's side. She moved her lips to the girl's cheek, kissing her all the way down her neck. The swimmer buried her face in the crook of Spencer's neck as Spencer breathed heavily and held Emily there.

"I'm here for the quickie, what else?" Spencer joked. Emily let out a giggle and swatted Spencer on the leg. "I'm kidding, I came to see if my beautiful girlfriend wanted a ride to school."

"I'd love one Spence, but I kinda have to go with my mom today. She's worried about me," Emily's voice trailed off, making Spencer think that something was wrong. She pulled away from the girl and brought her chin up so that their eyes would connect, silently asking Emily what was wrong. Emily sighed and looked away. "The D.A. called last night. They found evidence that connects Garrett to Maya's death. He's going to be tried for both."

Spencer took Emily back into her arms and held her there. She could feel Emily exhale and allow herself to relax into her girlfriend's arms.

"I'm okay, I'm just glad I'm starting to get the closure I needed," Emily stated. She allowed herself to be held for a moment before she heard her mom call her from downstairs. "That's my cue."

The two girls got up off the bed, and Spencer took Emily into her arms once again.

"I'll see you at school, sweetheart," Spencer told the girl. She placed a soft kiss on Emily's lips once again before pulling away. "Now lets go before we're late."

The girls made their way downstairs and went into their respective cars, separately making their way to school.

* * *

Spencer, Aria and Hanna sat outside in the quad, the three girls briefing each other on their weekends before school started. Of course, Spencer left out the date that her and Emily had, but Aria had discussed her weekend spent with Ezra while her parents were out of town and Hanna mentioned the time Caleb, her mother and she had all spent together.

"So, I didn't tell you guys this yet because I was waiting for my mother to officially bring it up to me – which she did, yesterday – but uhm… My mom told me she's defending Garrett Reynolds," Spencer told the two girls that were sitting in front of her. Hanna's mouth dropped, unable to formulate words.

"Wait is that a joke? How could your mom defend the person that killed Ali?!" Aria questioned, instantly angered by the situation.

"Apparently it's a circumstantial accusation based on a shotty investigation with potentially corrupt evidence. She thinks she can get the entire case thrown out," Spencer elaborated. Hanna rolled her eyes at what she'd just said.

"Okay not to be rude Spence, but is your mom on crack? You realize that if they hadn't figured it out and arrested Garrett, then we would all have been the next people in line to be arrested. Why would she try and get the charges dropped?" Hanna asked.

"I don't know, Han. Believe me, these are all the questions that have been running through my mind. I just can't figure out for the life of me what the possible motive would be," Spencer responded. She held her head up with her hands as she massaged her temple.

"Once again not to be rude Spence, but maybe we should revisit the Melissa theory. I know we shot down the idea because you figured you were gonna talk to Wren instead, but maybe we should do some snooping around Melissa's place in Philly just in case. She and Garrett were getting awfully close before he got arrested. Maybe there's something she's not telling you," Hanna brought up. Spencer glanced up with her head still in her hands, looking completely unimpressed with Hanna's idea. Before Spencer could completely shoot down Hanna's idea, Aria stepped in.

"Ah, okay Spencer I'm with Hanna on this one. Look, Wren and Melissa have been broken up for a while and all, but they were in love once. You can never really trust what he says," Aria pointed out.

"Well, Wren agreed to check into Melissa's medical files to see what he could find. How about instead of just jumping right into this, we wait for what he finds. Seriously, guys I do not wanna go there," Spencer explained to them before putting her head back into her hands.

"Compromise, how about we explain the situation to Emily, and then see what she has to say," Aria offered. Spencer shook her head, immediately denying the idea.

"No, no. We're not throwing any of this at Emily, she's dealing with enough as it is," Spencer told the girls. This earned her a pair of questioning looks from Aria and Hanna. Spencer let out a sigh, knowing she shouldn't have mentioned it. "Okay look, I was talking to Em earlier and apparently her mom told her that the D.A. called. Garrett's not only on trial for the murder of Ali, but for Maya's too. So just… Ixnay on anything pertaining to A or the trials or just… Any of that."

Just as the girls finished talking about it, Emily approached them from behind with a smile on her face. She sat down at the table, greeting the three girls in front of her politely. Hanna, Aria and Spencer all glanced at each other before giving Emily a brief look of worry and then looking away. Those looks however did not go unnoticed by Emily who waited for someone to explain what was going on. When there was still silence, she looked to Spencer whose eyes were avoiding hers. Then, it clicked.

"You told them already, didn't you?" Emily questioned. Spencer still avoided her eyes hoping that she could get away from the conversation, but knew she couldn't get away from it.

"Okay yes, I did but it slipped! I didn't mean to, I just…" Spencer sighed yet again as she locked eyes with Emily. "I'm sorry."

Emily smiled and placed a hand on Spencer's shoulder to let her know it was fine.

"Don't worry about it Spence, I'm sure your heart was in the right place," Emily explained. Spencer smiled back at her while Aria and Hanna looked at each other, confused as to what just happened.

"Well you're awfully chipper, all things considered," Aria pointed out. Emily kept the smile on her face as she nodded at Aria.

"I'm in a good place, really guys. I'm happy, school is going well, I've only got one make up exam left that I'll ace thanks to Spencer, coach wants to talk to me at lunch about some scouts that have been talking about me, and things are just looking… Good. I'm genuinely happy," Emily explained, subtly making eye contact with Spencer as she made the last comment. The girls around her smiled at what Emily was saying, glad that she was finally starting to be able to move past what happened. The bell rang, signaling that classes were going to start soon, which caused all the girls to stand up and say their goodbyes before disbursing to their first classes.

* * *

Students rushed out of their classes as the lunch bell rang. Emily slowly gathered her books and exited her Calculus classroom. Normally she had Calculus in the afternoon, but she had just taken her final make up exam in her free period. She was frustrated with herself, feeling that she didn't do her very best on it – Emily had been distracted more than she was letting on, and what started out as a great day was slowly turning into a disaster. The swimmer quickly dropped her books off at her locker and was about to make her way to the natatorium to see Coach Fulton when she heard her phone go off.

"Ugh, not now. Please, not now," Emily muttered to herself as she took her phone out to see who the text was from. One new message. From Unknown. Emily rolled her eyes and unlocked her phone to see what it said. It was a photo of her and Spencer on the ferris wheel together kissing, with a caption underneath the photo that read:

'_How much do you care about this staying a secret? Paige is looking a little lonely these days. Ask her out before I hit send and everyone knows Spencer's little secret. –A'_

Emily let out a sigh of frustration and tightly grasped her phone, trying to contain herself from throwing it across the hallway into a wall. Instead, she put her phone back in her purse and stormed off towards the natatorium. She entered the pool area with her head down, her mind trailing back to what the text message said. On one hand, hanging out with Paige could give Spencer the wrong idea. But Emily knew how important it was for Spencer to come out when she was ready. Not paying attention to where she was walking, Emily collided with a figure in front of her, which caused her to be pulled out of her train of thought.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry!" Emily let out, immediately dropping to the floor to pick up the books she knocked out of this person's hands.

"It's okay, Em," the voice in front of her let out. Emily looked up from the ground to see Paige in front of her, also leaning over to pick up the fallen books. Emily gathered the rest of the books from the ground and the two stood up simultaneously.

"Sorry, I just wasn't watching where I was going, and I've just had a lot going on with all these make up exams and stuff at home and –" Paige cut her off as she put her hand on Emily's arm.

"Emily I said it's fine," Paige reiterated as she gave Emily's arm a slight squeeze. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. Things have just been… Hectic, lately," Emily stated cryptically. Paige looked at her skeptically, but decided not to question what Emily was referring to.

"Well, I definitely know what you mean. Swim practice and schoolwork for me are almost too much to handle already. Can't imagine what you're going through," Paige responded. Emily nodded as she looked to the ground. The two stood in silence, not making any eye contact. "Okay, so I better go. I have a test next period, so I should get some last minute studying in. We should hang out sometime soon though, it's been a while."

Emily thought about what Paige was saying. If she agreed to hang out with Paige, maybe she could play it off as a 'date' and A would get off her case. But, it could also backfire and send Paige the wrong message. However Emily knew that doing this would protect Spencer, and hopefully get A off their backs for a little while. Weighing the pros and cons briefly, Emily decided that she needed to protect her girlfriend at all costs.

"That sounds great, Paige. How does tomorrow after swim practice work for you?" Emily questioned. Paige lit up at Emily's reply, almost as though she didn't expect the reply that she got.

"Perfect, I can't wait. I'll let you get to wherever you were headed and I'll see you tomorrow," Paige told the girl, giving her a quick hug before she walked away. Emily stood in her place briefly, thinking about the conversation that just occurred before shaking her head and heading toward Coach Fulton's office.

* * *

Meanwhile in the quad, Spencer and Hanna were sat at their usual table eating lunch together. Spencer picked at her pasta, worried that she hadn't seen Emily all lunch while Hanna moved the salad on her plate around while looking at the brunette. Spencer looked up at Hanna to see her look away quickly. Rolling her eyes, Spencer broke the silence.

"Okay, Han. Spill it," Spencer stated dryly as she stared at the blonde in front of her. Hanna glanced at her before looking away; pretending as though she had no idea what Spencer was talking about. "Hanna you only play with your food when you have something on your mind. So spill."

"God, it's like you have telepathetic powers or something," Hanna commented.

"It's telepathic, but go on," Spencer replied while giving the blonde a weird look.

"I was just thinking we need to seriously think about this whole Melissa and the black swan thing," Hanna commented. Spencer groaned as she rolled her eyes, not wanting to bring up this argument once again. "Seriously Spencer it's the only thing that makes sense right now. We should be capitalizing on it while she least expects it."

"Hanna for the last time, we're not going there okay? Not until I hear back from Wren," Spencer declared.

"But –" Hanna began but was cut off by the sound of Spencer's phone going off. The blonde stopped talking, allowing Spencer to check why her phone was going off before she continued to speak. Spencer took her phone out of her bag and checked it. One new message. From Unknown. Spencer opened it up to read what it said.

'_You know I don't like blonde Nancy Drew snooping around. Put an end to it, before I get angry. –A'_

Spencer tried to maintain her composure so that she wouldn't let on that she just got a text from A. She pretended to reply to the text before putting it back in her bag and returning her attention to Hanna.

"As I was going to say, Melissa –" but Hanna was once again cut off, only this time it was by Spencer.

"Enough, Hanna. She's my sister. She's my family. We don't get her involved until I talk to Wren. And before you give me another argument, you'd do the same thing if this were your mom in place of Melissa." Spencer stated firmly. Hanna crinkled her eyebrows in frustration before raising her hands, giving up on the argument.

"Fine, fine," Hanna stated, dropping the topic with Spencer. "So, how's the single life?"

"Non-existent," Spencer muttered quietly enough for Hanna not to hear. Hanna began to discuss the possibility of her setting the brunette up on a blind date. Before she could rebut Hanna's suggestion, Spencer received another text message. She once again reached into her purse to take her phone out and check the message. One new message. From Unknown. Spencer opened the message to find two photos attached; one of Emily and Paige with Paige's arm on Emily's shoulder, and another with the two wrapped up in an embrace. The caption beneath it read:

'_Looks like Em got bored quickly. She won't hide out with you forever… Clearly. –A'_

Spencer gripped her phone tightly before shoving it in her purse. She finally tuned back into Hanna's rambling about setting her up on blind dates. Before she could put an end to it she spotted Emily approaching their table. Spencer knew she wouldn't be able to contain her frustration due to the text she received, so she opted to just remove herself from the situation.

"Look, that sounds great and all, but I'm going to have to pass. Thanks," Spencer said icily as she stood up and collected her items. Just before Emily made it to their table, Spencer picked up her lunch tray and left the table, giving Emily an icy glare and brushing past her as she made her escape. Emily stood there, confused as she locked eyes on Hanna who had turned around to witness the entire exit. The swimmer turned around to see if she could figure out where Spencer had gone, but it was to no avail. Hanna shrugged at Emily, both now sporting worried looks but completely unsure why. Instead of going after Spencer, the raven-haired girl just sat down at the table with Hanna. The blonde started up a conversation after Emily sat down, but the girl completely zoned her out, too worried about her girlfriend.

* * *

Emily hadn't seen her girlfriend the rest of the school day. She didn't stop by to see her after school before her swim practice, and she hadn't texted the swimmer with any explanation. Worried, Emily promptly made her way to the Hastings residence after her swim practice. Veronica let her in and allowed her to make her way out to the barn where – according to Veronica – the brunette was trying to get studying done in the most quiet atmosphere. Not wanting to cause the girl too much disruption, Emily tried to quietly make her way into the barn. She quietly opened the barn door and peeked her head in to see Spencer sitting at the coffee table, her back facing Emily.

"You don't need to be so quiet, you know," Spencer spoke, which startled Emily enough to make her jump. Spencer turned around to see Emily with her hand on her chest, trying to regain composure.

"How'd you know I was there? I didn't think I made a sound coming in," Emily spoke. Spencer had a slight smirk on her face upon Emily asking the question.

"You always use way more shampoo and conditioner when you shower after swim practice. I could smell the vanilla within a second of you peeking your head inside. I don't think I could forget the scent, even if I tried," Spencer stated. Emily's face flushed as she dropped her gaze from the girl in front of her. Spencer never ceased to amaze the girl in everything she did and said. "So, what brings you by?"

"I missed you after school. You didn't come say goodbye. No call, no text, and you kind of brushed me off at lunch today. Is everything alright?" Emily questioned sincerely. Spencer closed her eyes momentarily, trying to keep her cool but struggling to do so. She sighed as she stood and took her phone out of her pocket, pulling up the text message that A sent her and walked over to Emily to show it to her. Emily took the girl's phone and looked at the text. Her eyebrows furrowed and she rolled her eyes after reading the caption. "Spence –"

"Em, just tell me the truth. I can take it. Are you and Paige…" Spencer trailed off as she looked to the ground, struggling to maintain eye contact. Emily put her palm on the girl's cheek, willing her to look back up. The brunette glanced back up, her eyes beginning to gloss over.

"Babe, I would never do that to you. You are arguably the most… Incredibly amazing, fascinating, brilliant, and beautiful person I know. I could never get bored of you. I was on my way to see Coach Fulton when I accidentally bumped into Paige and knocked her stuff over. I was having an off morning, and she was just being a good friend. The first picture was her reassuring me that I didn't hurt her when I plowed over her. And the second was a friendly goodbye hug. I promise, Spence," Emily explained. Spencer's worried gaze completely resolved and she melted into Emily's arms.

"I'm sorry. I was so angry and worried all day, I just didn't know how to go about it," Spencer softly said into Emily's ear as the swimmer held her in her arms. They pulled apart and Emily placed a kiss on top of Spencer's head, letting her know it was okay. "I feel so stupid now, I thought you were actually going to start hanging out with Paige."

"Actually…" Emily began, which caused Spencer to loosen herself from Emily's grip. "I'm kind of hanging out with her tomorrow."

Spencer's demeanor immediately turned to one of frustration and confusion. She stepped back from Emily and crossed her arms.

"What? Why?" Spencer snapped.

"We're co-captains this year, Spencer. We have to get along with each other considering we're going to be seeing a lot of one another this season," she explained. Spencer rolled her eyes at Emily's reasoning.

"Please, don't remind me. You guys will spend tons of time together at every practice you have. Why do you need to spend time with her outside of the pool?" Spencer questioned. Emily too crossed her arms, not happy with the girl's reaction.

"Like it or not, Spence we're teammates. This is going to happen whether or not you approve," Emily shot back.

"Yeah, you're teammates. I get that. But newsflash, not only did you date her, not long before that she tried to drown you Emily," Spencer retorted. It was now Emily's turn to roll her eyes at how Spencer was handling the situation.

"Jesus, Spence if I could let it go, you should be able to too. She was in a bad place back then. If anyone should understand what she felt when she was in that frame of mind, it should be you," Emily told the girl. Spencer let out a sigh in frustration as a stray tear fell from her eyes.

"Do whatever you want, Emily. I just can't fathom why the hell you're defending her, or why you're so damn eager to spend your free time with her instead of me," Spencer stated. She pushed past Emily and tried to storm out of the barn, but Emily's voice stopped her.

"I'm doing it for you. A sent me a text saying they would out you unless I asked Paige out. So I took the chance at Paige asking to hang out with me in hopes that it would get A off our backs. I did it all for you, Spencer," Emily explained. Spencer sighed in tears; frustrated with herself and the entire situation they had gotten themselves into.

"Look, I appreciate what you're doing to protect me but the thought of you and Paige hanging out doesn't sit well with me. You don't have to do this to protect me. Don't worry about A; I can handle it on my own. I knew the sacrifices I'd have to make by keeping it a secret for longer and A possibly using it against me," the brunette stated, still in tears. She wiped a stray tear that fell from her eyes, trying to stay strong, but she could tell that Emily was about to fall apart too.

"I know you can take care of yourself. But until you come out, this is how it's always going to be. A is always going to try and pit us against each other with threat after threat. It's what A does; thrives on our weaknesses and secrets," Emily stated. Spencer was about to interrupt, but Emily held her hand up, not wanting her to speak yet. "I hope you know, Spence that I understand where you're coming from. But you're not the only one making sacrifices. I had arguably one of the worst days at school today. The only good news I got, I couldn't wait to share with my girlfriend. But I wasn't able to. Not because I didn't want to. Not even because you were avoiding me all day. But because even if I wanted to, I couldn't celebrate until I was alone in a secluded place with you. And what sucks even more is that the one thing that would have made this bad day all better would have been a kiss from my girlfriend. But I couldn't even get that because of your secret. So just remember, you're not the only one who's making sacrifices here," Emily told Spencer in tears before she shook her head and walked past Spencer, out of the barn.

**Thoughts? Comments? Reviews? Suggestions? This chapter was kind of a struggle for me to write, sorry if it wasn't my best work.**


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Better With You

Rating: T with potential for M (Will warn if it gets to that)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Pretty Little Liars

Summary: After spending a large portion of their Summer apart, the girls are back together for their senior year at Rosewood High. Mona is in Radley, Garrett's been arrested, Maya is dead, and emotions still run high. Emily returns from Haiti in hopes to move past what she's been put through, and finds happiness in an unexpected place. A Spemily focused story with mentions of Ezria and Haleb. Storyline with "A" but not the main focus. The story follows the regular season one and two storyline, and begins after the opening scene of season three, however the night ends differently.

**Chapter 7 – Find The Real**

Three days had passed since Emily and Spencer's last conversation, and in those three days the two of them avoided each other like the plague. Emily found herself arriving at school right before the bell so that she wouldn't have to see Spencer in the morning, and Spencer found herself in the library during lunch. They avoided eye contact in class, and both found reasons to not have to go to their lockers when the other was at theirs. Thursday came around as Hanna and Aria sat at the girls' usual table in the quad during lunch. They were making small talk - neither girl fully committed to the conversation because they were both eating - when Emily came to join them. Hanna was about to greet her, but was cut off by the sound of Aria yelling across the quad.

"Spence!" Aria yelled as she waved the brunette over. If anyone were really paying attention, they would have seen Spencer looking at the girls from across the quad, planning to avoid the table after seeing Emily join it. However, she wasn't quick enough and had no excuse to walk away now. Spencer approached the table with her head down, and upon arriving at the table she gave all three of the girls very brief greetings. The girls sat in silence momentarily before Hanna broke the quiet.

"Gosh, it feels like its been days since we last all sat down for lunch together," Hanna mentioned. She directed her attention towards Spencer and Emily. "Every morning and lunch it's been me and Aria and then one of you guys is always missing it seems."

"Yeah what have you guys been up to? Me and Hanna clearly don't have lives in comparison," Aria added. Emily and Spencer looked at each other briefly, knowing the real reason why their friends hadn't seen much of them as of late. But neither would admit it.

"I've just been really busy with swim practice. I was thinking of trying to fit in two a days by getting a quick swim in at lunch and after school," Emily elaborated. "Haven't decided yet if I'm up for it."

"And I've been really busy writing essays for my college applications. If I'm lucky I'll get early acceptance to one of them," Spencer explained. Unbeknownst to Spencer, Emily gazed at the brunette, slightly heartbroken at the idea of Spencer considering colleges without her. To her it meant that Spencer was thinking of a future without taking Emily into consideration. Though the swimmer would never express those feelings in front of Hanna and Aria, she couldn't help but let the thoughts fill her mind. She began to zone out of the conversation that was happening in front of her, caught up in her thoughts. It wasn't until Hanna mentioned her name that she snapped out of it.

"Sorry, what did you just say Han?" Emily questioned, missing why the blonde had said her name.

"I said, so Spencer, now that Emily is back in the dating game, I decided to set you up with a date too," Hanna repeated. Emily's heart rate instantly shot up at the thought of Spencer on a date with someone else. The idea of it almost made her miss what Hanna had just said.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Emily questioned, confused as to what Hanna was referring to. It couldn't be Spencer; nobody knew about her and Spencer except for, well, her and Spencer.

"Oh come on Em, I totally saw you and Paige at The Brew the other day. Don't tell me that wasn't a date," Hanna explained. Emily quickly shifted her eyes to Spencer to see her stifle a scoff and roll her eyes.

"It wasn't a date, Hanna. We were just hanging out as friends, that's all," Emily retorted. "We aren't into each other like that."

"I don't know, Em. I was with Hanna when she saw you, and the way Paige looks at you… Let's just say she didn't make a very convincing friend," Aria stated, backing up Hanna's claim. Emily shrugged, looking down at the salad on her plate. She was about to comment on the situation, when she heard the shifting of a lunch tray on the table. Emily looked up to see Spencer moving from her seat. The brunette was visibly upset, tears forming in her eyes.

"You know what, I'm actually not hungry anymore," Spencer stated while trying to collect her books and put them into her bag. "I'll just uh… See you guys later."

She hastily picked up her tray and made a beeline towards the entrance to the school. The three remaining girls all looked at each other. Hanna and Aria were confused and concerned with Spencer's actions, while Emily just felt like she got punched in the gut. They watched as Spencer walked toward the school entrance, and Aria decided to take it upon herself to do something. She stood up and picked up her tray too.

"I'm gonna go see if she's okay," Aria told them before leaving their table and running after Spencer. She threw her garbage out and left her tray on the holder, then followed the same path that she thought she saw Spencer take. Aria walked down the hallways, following the burgundy colour of Spencer's purse. It led her to the library where she lost Spencer, but Aria had been in the library with her enough to know exactly where she would be. Aria walked to the back of the library towards a small corner behind a bookshelf.

It was Spencer's favourite place to study, and arguably the quietest and most secluded space in the library. Aria turned the corner beside the bookshelf and she found Spencer sitting on a couch, head in her hands as she cried so softly, a stranger wouldn't be able to notice. Aria did though, and consequently she approached the couch calmly and quietly before sitting next to her friend and putting her hand on the girl's shoulder. Spencer jumped slightly at the touch, indicating to Aria that Spencer was unaware that she had followed her. She lifted her head from her hands to look over at who was sitting next to her, and saw Aria's eyes full of concern. This caused Spencer to break down even more as she turned towards Aria and threw her arms around her, softly crying into the girl's shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay Spence. It's okay. What's wrong, sweetie?" Aria questioned as she rubbed the girl's back, trying to calm her down. Spencer turned herself towards Aria who was looking down at the girl in her arms. She shifted her gaze away and looked down while she wiped tears from her eyes.

"I'm going to lose her," Spencer mumbled as she tried to calm her breathing. Aria didn't respond at first, confused as to what Spencer was referring to. She thought of what the girl could possibly be talking about, but the only person she could think of was Emily.

"Who, Emily?" Aria questioned as she felt Spencer nod slowly. Aria let out a soft chuckle as she squeezed Spencer closer to her. "Spence, Em isn't going anywhere. Just because she and Paige are starting to hang out more doesn't mean we're going to stop seeing her. She'll still be our friend."

Spencer exhaled deeply before pulling away from Aria. She tried to collect herself for what she was about to tell her best friend. Spencer sat up straight and wiped the stray tears from her cheeks as she let out another deep sigh. She turned her attention to Aria who was staring at her very intently, waiting for her to say something.

"I have to tell you something," Spencer started. Aria could tell that her friend was freaking out internally. She put her hand on Spencer's knee, urging her to continue with whatever it was she had to say. "Emily and I have been seeing each other. As in, we've been dating. Ever since we threw her that welcome back get together. That's why Toby and I broke up. Well, not because of her exactly, but because I'm gay. We kept it a secret because I wasn't ready, and because of all this crap with Garrett and Maya's murder. But then A started to use it against us, which led to this fight, and we haven't talked in days, and now I think I'm going to lose her to Paige and…"

Spencer trailed off as she felt tears building in her eyes again. She took a few deep breaths, hoping to calm herself down as she waited for Aria's reaction. Aria had a dazed look on her face briefly before looking to Spencer and giving her a smile.

"You know, I knew you guys were acting weird. Hanna and I were talking about all the possible reasons as to why you guys had been so hush-hush around us. But then we thought maybe you guys were just caught up in Em's exams and stuff. Never would have guessed dating though," Aria told her. Spencer was completely thrown off by Aria's reaction to what she had just said.

"You do realize what I just told you, right? I'm gay, Ar," Spencer reiterated. Aria grinned even more at Spencer and moved her hand from Spencer's knee to her arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"I know, Spence. But it's not a big deal. I mean it is a big deal because that's who you are. But to me it's no different whether it's Toby or Emily or whoever else. That will never change or affect our friendship. We're Team Sparia, remember? As long as the person you're with treats you right and makes you happy, I support you one hundred percent. You're my best friend Spence, and I love you. I don't ever want you to feel like you're scared to be yourself around me," Aria explained to her. Aria pulled her in for a tight hug, and Spencer relaxed into it, finally feeling a slight weight lifted off of her shoulders because she was finally able to tell someone else.

"Thank you, Aria. That means the world to me," Spencer told her friend as she looked away from Aria and began to fidget with her fingers. "I might have royally messed up with Emily though. What if I lost her?"

"Spencer, you know Emily. She isn't one to play games. And I think if you want to get her back you have to show her you're serious and that you're in it for keeps," Aria advised her. Spencer nodded, knowing that Aria was making a valid point.

"You're right Ar. I think I have an idea that might work," Spencer told her. She was about to explain it to Aria, but as she was about to speak the bell rang to signal that their lunch break was over. "Crap, I've got to go. You know how Desmerhais is when you're late for class. But thanks for everything, Aria. And if you could, could you please not tell Hanna yet? I just… I wanna be the one to tell her."

Aria nodded, letting her know that she would keep her secret safe. The two girls hugged one more time before they went to find their separate classes.

* * *

Spencer sat outside of Emily's house for 10 minutes, staring at the pathway up to her door. She had been going back and forth in her mind, trying to convince herself to suck it up and go knock on the door. Spencer took a deep breath, and quickly checked her mirror to do a brief touch up on her make up. After running her hands through her hair, she flipped the mirror closed, grabbed her bag, and exited her car. Spencer walked up the sidewalk to Emily's house, slowly making her way up the steps of the porch until she came face to face with the door. She raised her hand to it, about to knock when it suddenly opened and she came face to face with Paige. The two girls looked at each other and gave one another a polite smile and a nod. Paige turned around and said goodbye to Emily before exiting her house and stepping around Spencer to go to her car. Emily stood at her door, gesturing Spencer to come inside. The brunette accepted her offer and step inside as Emily closed the door behind her.

"Look, Spencer that wasn't what it looked like," Emily stated. Spencer held her hands up in surrender.

"I know, I know. I believe you. Look I'm not here to fight, and I don't really have a lot of time because I have to meet Wren, but I'm here to apologize," Spencer explained. Emily looked at the girl, her eyebrow raised as she put a slight smirk on her face.

"Spencer Hastings doesn't apologize…" Emily interrupted. Spencer looked at the girl and gave her a small grin.

"There are a lot of things I seem to do out of character because of you," Spencer told the girl. "But I read somewhere, something along the lines of it being better to lose your pride because of someone you care about, than to lose someone you care about because of your pride."

Emily's face softened and she couldn't help but break out a warm smile. Spencer reached into her purse and carefully took out a daffodil, which she then handed to the swimmer. Emily glanced at the flower, then at Spencer. She stepped forward, took the flower from Spencer, and then threw her arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. Spencer let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in and held her girlfriend for the first time in what seemed like forever. The two stood in that position for what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes. Finally Spencer broke the hold and pulled away so that she could see her girlfriend.

"Em, I'm so sorry for how I've been these last few days. I was just being stupid and jealous. You were trying to protect me, and I should have appreciated what you were sacrificing for me instead of ignoring it," Spencer told her. She placed her hand on Emily's cheek and softly gazed at her. "Forgive me?"

Emily nodded at her and leaned in, giving Spencer a kiss to show her that all was forgiven. Spencer sighed into the kiss, happy to have her girl back.

"So, want to come upstairs?" Emily asks the girl with a devious smile on her face, which made Spencer go weak in the knees. The swimmer moved her lips to Spencer's neck, knowing that it was one of her biggest weaknesses. The brunette bit her tongue, trying to fight off a moan as her breathing began to stagger.

"As much as I would love to, and believe me… I would love to, I have to go meet Wren," Spencer told her. Emily groaned into Spencer's ear, and the brunette thought she was going to have a heart attack right then and there. "How about you come over tonight though? I'll cook for you, we can talk some more, and maybe do a little more of this."

Spencer shifted her head and captured Emily's lips, quickly slipping her tongue into the girl's mouth, which elicited a moan from the swimmer. The kiss immediately got heated as Emily pulled Spencer in closer, moving her hands to the hem of Spencer's shirt before slipping them underneath, caressing her lower back.

"Tonight sounds great," Emily whispered before kissing the girl once more. Spencer ran her hands down Emily's sides, and kissed her back once more, nipping her lower lip before pulling away.

"7 o'clock, I'll see you then," Spencer replied in a low and sultry voice. She gave Emily one last peck on the lips before pulling away and walking towards the door. Emily followed behind her, completely smitten and on cloud nine. The brunette came to the door and turned to Emily, giving her a smile. "Bye sweetheart."

"See you later, Spence. Drive safe," Emily replied with a smile before opening the door for her. Once Spencer exited, she watched the girl walk to her car and waved goodbye to Spencer before she took off. As soon as her SUV was gone, Emily closed the door and leaned against it. She let out a happy sigh, relieved that things between her and Spencer were finally getting back to normal.

* * *

Spencer walked into The Apple Rose Grille and saw Wren sitting in the back corner, a cup of coffee sitting on the table in front of the newspaper that he was currently sifting through. She walked up to him, and when she came into his line of vision, he looked up from his paper and gave her a smile.

"Spencer, hi have a seat," Wren said while gesturing to the chair in front of him. Spencer sat down, and Wren pushed the cup of coffee towards her. "I ordered this for you, I've just finished my drink."

"Oh, thank you," Spencer replied before taking a sip of the coffee in front of her. "So I hate to jump straight to the point with this, but I've got a lot to get done tonight and then a dinner to get to."

Wren held his boyish smile for a moment before reaching for his briefcase and taking a set of files out. He handed them to Spencer who took them and opened the folder to take a look.

"I have a friend who works at the hospital Melissa went to when she had the miscarriage. I pulled some strings and had him fax this to me. Melissa's story checks out, Spencer. She lost the baby in June," Wren confirmed. Spencer scanned her eyes over the documents once more, checking the dates to make sure. But like he said, her story checked out, iron clad.

"Would it be okay if I kept these?" Spencer questioned, gesturing to the papers. Wren looked skeptically at her, unsure as to why Spencer could possibly want them. "Please, I promise they won't leave my possession. I just… Need them for something."

Wren took the folder from Spencer and took a few pages out of it before giving it back to the girl.

"Alright you can keep those, but I need these files. And I need you to make sure that those don't go out of your sight. When you're done with them, I'd like you to return them to me," Wren told her. Spencer looked at the files that Wren left her, and was satisfied. It was all she would need to show to the girls to make sure they dropped the Melissa theory once and for all. As she flipped through the folder once more, Wren took the files he needed off of the table and leaned over to put them back in his briefcase. Spencer heard a clinking sound in front of her and she shifted her eyes to the ground where the shine of an object on the ground nearly blinded her. She bent from her chair to pick it up.

"Is this yours? It's so shiny, you could probably spot this thing from space," Spencer questioned as she held up a shiny silver ring. Wren looked at what she was holding and gave her a smile before taking it from her.

"Yes, thank you. Must have slipped out of my pocket when I bent over. I always take it off for stuff like work and whatnot. Seems I just forgot to put it back on," Wren explained. He placed it back on his right hand. "Good thing you saw it, it was a gift from my granddad. Gave me it the last time I saw him. Bit of an heirloom, it's been in the family for years."

Spencer finished up the coffee that Wren gave her and started to collect the folder and put it into her bag. She stood from the table and tucked her chair back in.

"I'd say we could call it even then, hey? Quid pro quo, the ring for the folder?" Spencer joked. Wren let out a laugh and stood as well.

"Sounds fair. It was great to see you, Spencer. Don't be a stranger now," Wren told her. He gave her a friendly hug before letting her go.

"I won't. Thanks again," she replied once more before turning around and leaving.

* * *

Emily approached the pathway to Spencer's house while quickly glancing at her watch to make sure she wasn't late. With five minutes to spare, she walked up the Hastings porch and rang the doorbell. Emily checked herself over once more, making sure she had nothing on her black denim jeans. She straightened out the smooth red top that she wore underneath her black blazer and then quickly smoothened out her hair. The door opened and she was greeted by the smile of her girlfriend.

"Hey, pretty girl. Come on in," Spencer stated as she stepped to the side and gestured for her to come inside. Emily walked through the door and greeted Spencer with a hug. "Follow me."

Emily looked at Spencer, confused as to where she was leading her, but she followed the girl anyways. Spencer led her to the dining room where to her surprise she found Spencer's parents sitting down.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hastings, hi how have you been?" Emily greeted politely as she smiled at the two of them. She shot Spencer a look and saw that the brunette had a bit of a smirk on her face.

"Emily, it's good to see you. We've been good. Busy, but good. I didn't know you were joining us for dinner," Peter responded. "Please, take a seat wherever you'd like."

Emily nodded politely and took a seat across from the two. She played with her fingers, not quite sure how to proceed with the situation. Emily was still unsure as to what Spencer was up to, but she would humour her girlfriend and go along with whatever she had planned. Spencer took a seat beside the raven-haired girl, which drew her parents' attention towards her.

"Mom, dad. While I finally have you both in a room together I wanted to talk to you about something," Spencer mentioned. They looked at each other and then back at their daughter. "If you guys hadn't noticed, Toby hasn't really been around lately. And it's because, well we broke up."

"Oh sweetheart, are you okay? What happened?" Veronica questioned, clearly blind-sided by the news. Spencer fidgeted with her hands, unsure of if she was ready to say what she had to. She felt a hand on her thigh and looked to Emily who gave her a look of reassurance. The moment she looked at Emily, she knew that she could do it.

"I'm okay mom. I broke up with him. Truthfully, the reason I broke up with him is because I knew I could never be in love with him. To be completely honest with you, it's because I came to terms with the fact that I could never see him as anything but a very, very good friend," Spencer explained. She paused and took a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure. "You two always taught me that in order to be happy with my life, I needed to be myself. And you were right. For the past 17 years I spent my life trying to be perfect; to fit into the Hastings mold. To make you guys proud. And I have tried so, so hard to do that. But I'm afraid that I'm not what you think is perfect anymore."

Spencer stopped momentarily as a few tears fell down her face. Emily stood from her chair and briefly left the room only to come back with tissue for her girlfriend. Spencer took the tissue and gave Emily an appreciative look. Emily smiled back at her girlfriend and mouthed 'you can do it'. The brunette nodded and turned her attention back to her parents who were still sitting, unaware of what to do or say.

"I realized that… I'm gay. That's who I am. And I've tried to fight it, and deny it. But it's who I am… And I'm so sorry," Spencer concluded. Veronica looked at her daughter, completely speechless while Peter put his arm around his wife and pulled her close. "Please… Say something. Anything."

"You're… You're sure that's what you want; who you are?" Peter asked slowly. Spencer nodded as stray tears fell from her eyes. Emily took Spencer's hand and held it in her own, letting the girl know she had her full support. Veronica now had tears in her eyes as she looked at her daughter.

"Spencer I never want you to apologize for who you are. You are my daughter and I love you. Who you choose to love does not and will not ever affect that. I'm sorry that we've made you feel like you've had to hide it for so long. But I want you to know that you always have and always will fit into the Hastings mold. I don't want you to ever feel that you're not good enough for this family. Because you are, and that will never change," Veronica finally spoke. Both Hastings girls stood and came around the dining room table, Veronica taking her daughter into her arms for a warm hug. They stood in their embrace for a few moments before separating. Spencer wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled at her mom, and then her dad.

"Thank you, mom and dad; for accepting me for who I am. One more thing though, I forgot to ask you earlier. Would it be okay if my girlfriend stays for dinner?" Spencer questioned as she moved her gaze over to Emily who was now smiling at the brunette.

"Absolutely," Peter replied, giving both girls a smile before standing up from his chair. "Veronica and I will be in the kitchen getting dinner ready. Should be good to go in 20 to 30 minutes."

"That sounds great, Mr. Hastings. Thank you," Emily told him.

"Please, Emily. Call me Peter. See you two in 20 to 30," he replied. Peter walked around the dining room table and took Veronica's hand in his, leading the two of them out of the dining room. Emily stood from her chair and walked over to Spencer, taking the girl into her arms.

"Congratulations, Miss Hastings. You're officially out to your parents. How do you feel?" Emily asked her. Spencer let out a chuckle and pulled away from her girlfriend with a genuine smile on her face.

"Amazing. Thank you so much for sticking by my side through that. I felt invincible with you here, and I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend than you," Spencer replied. Emily placed a soft, sensual kiss on her lips.

"Anything for you."

* * *

Emily and Spencer sat in the brunette's room after their incredibly successful dinner with Spencer's parents. The two girls were on her bed, Spencer's arm around the swimmer as Emily cuddled into her side and rested her arm across Spencer. She had a wildflower in her hand; something Spencer had given her later that evening. The brunette had her hand in Emily's hair, playing with her soft locks while Emily traced patterns on Spencer's stomach.

"Babe?" Emily called out softly.

"Hm?"

"I'm really proud of you, for what you did today. You were so brave and fearless and just… Amazing. Thank you for letting me be a part of it," Emily told her. Spencer placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"I told you I could do anything with you by my side. And I told you my parents would love you. I'm pretty sure you impress them more than I do, actually. Thank you for giving me the courage to come out," Spencer replied.

"Also, I'm sorry about the whole Paige thing. If you don't like me hanging out with her, I should respect that," Emily told her. Spencer took the flower out of Emily's hand and put it on her bedside table before she moved her body to sit up, which caused Emily to sit up and look at her. The brunette took Emily's hand in her own and lightly stroked her thumb over Emily's.

"No, Em you don't have to apologize. I was so immature about it. You and Paige are teammates and co-captains; you're going to have to see each other outside of school. And I trust you hanging out alone with her, Em," Spencer told the girl. Emily smiled at how gracious and understanding she was being. "But if she makes one move on you, I won't hesitate to put her through a wall. Just saying."

Emily let out a laugh, which caused Spencer to join in on the laughter as well. The swimmer let go of Spencer's hand and lifted herself up onto her knees before crawling over top of Spencer, straddling her. Spencer placed her hands on Emily's waist, holding her in place as the raven-haired girl leaned in closely.

"You know, you're kind of sexy when you're all protective like this," she said softly as she moved closer and closer to Spencer's lips. Spencer raised her eyebrow and bit her lip as she felt herself start to gravitate toward Emily.

"Oh yeah?" Spencer questioned. Emily nodded her head and was about to close the gap between the two of them when suddenly both of their phones went off. Emily sighed and dropped her head back, unimpressed with the timing of the text messages they had both just received. She crawled off of Spencer's lap and both of them reached into their pockets to retrieve their phones.

"You get Aria's SOS?" Emily questioned. Spencer nodded and stood from the bed. She looked back to Emily who was still sitting down and leaned over to her, placing a brief kiss on her lips.

"Come on, let's go. We'll have to finish this later," Spencer told her as she held her hand out for her girlfriend. Emily took her hand and allowed herself to be pulled up by Spencer. She collected all of her belongings, being sure to put her flower carefully in her bag, and then the two girls proceeded down the stairs and out of the Hastings house. Emily drove both of them to Hanna's, where Aria told them to meet. It was a short, silent drive and within 5 minutes the two girls found themselves outside of Hanna's house, walking towards the door, hand in hand. They let themselves in and headed to the kitchen where they could hear music blasting. Upon entering the kitchen Aria noticed the two girls walking in together holding hands, which prompted her to turn her attention directly to Spencer and give her a questioning look to which Spencer smiled while nodding her head happily. Hanna and Emily looked back and forth between the two brunettes, completely lost.

"She knows," Spencer said to Emily, referring to Aria.

"What's going on?" Hanna questioned, not wanting to be left out of the loop. Spencer turned her attention to the blonde with a shy smile on her face.

"Remember how I said I didn't want you to set me up on any blind dates? Well, this is why," Spencer told the girl as she gestured to her and Emily's intertwined fingers. Hanna stood for a moment before a smile broke out on her face and she pulled both girls into a hug.

"That's really great you guys, I'm so happy for you," Hanna told the two. They both let out a chuckle and thanked her. Spencer pulled away and then the three broke apart.

"So, what's with the SOS?" Spencer asked after they separated. She went to turn the music down, but Hanna stopped her. Spencer gave her a confused look.

"We don't know who might be listening in on this," she explained. Hanna and Aria looked at each other, silently deciding who would talk. After a brief moment, Aria finally spoke up.

"Look Spence, we know you told us to ease off of the Melissa thing, but" Aria began, but was immediately cut off by Spencer.

"Actually about that, I talked to Wren today and her pregnancy checked out. He showed me her files and everything. She lost the baby in June," Spencer told them. She took the folder out of her bag and opened it up, showing the girls the files that Wren gave her. "See, look at the dates. They match."

Aria and Hanna looked at a page together, their eyes glued to it as they scanned the sheet. Emily stood next to Spencer with a hand on her shoulder while she sifted through the other files.

"You guys seem in shock?" Emily commented. Aria ran a hand through her hair as Hanna threw the papers down.

"Look, Spence… Hanna and I did some snooping around Melissa's apartment earlier. We're sorry we didn't listen, but it was the only way. We found this," Aria stated as opened her purse to show her the feather that was inside of it. It was an exact match to the feather that they found at the masquerade ball. Spencer took the purse from her hands and thoroughly inspected the feather, trying to think of a possible explanation. But she couldn't. Emily put her hand on her girlfriend's back, rubbing it and trying to soothe her.

"You okay, babe?" Emily asked her quietly. Spencer sat in silence for a moment, unable to take her eyes away from the feather. The other three girls all looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Finally, Spencer put the purse back on the table.

"They can't be trusted. They're hiding something. And I don't know what it is, but I'm going to find out."

**Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Reviews? Let me know! Thanks for reading.**


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Better With You

Rating: T with potential for M (Will warn if it gets to that)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Pretty Little Liars or in relation to any pop culture references that are made in this chapter.

Summary: After spending a large portion of their Summer apart, the girls are back together for their senior year at Rosewood High. Mona is in Radley, Garrett's been arrested, Maya is dead, and emotions still run high. Emily returns from Haiti in hopes to move past what she's been put through, and finds happiness in an unexpected place. A Spemily focused story with mentions of Ezria and Haleb. Storyline with "A" but not the main focus. The story follows the regular season one and two storyline, and begins after the opening scene of season three, however the night ends differently.

**A/N - Italics mean it is a flashback!**

**Chapter 8 – My Future Starts With You**

A month had passed and school along with extracurricular activities was now in full swing for the girls. Hanna and Caleb were taking couples cooking classes to keep busy, and Aria was taking a creative writing course, while Spencer was focused on field hockey and the academic decathlon team, and Emily's swim season was quietly but quickly approaching. Today was the one of the first times in the past month that the girls were able to sit down and relax together. They took the free time to finally reassess the new A situation. Hanna, Emily, and Aria were all sat in Emily's room waiting for Spencer to join them. Music played softly in the background as Hanna and Emily were sat on her bed flipping through magazines while Aria sat by the window writing in a diary-like book. The three girls were completely preoccupied until they heard the creaking of Emily's bedroom door. Simultaneously the girls all drew their attention to the doorway to see Spencer walk in.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. Practice ran longer than expected," Spencer briefly explained. She closed the door behind her and placed her bag on the ground before walking towards Emily and giving her a quick peck on the lips. Emily smiled into the kiss and tried not to express any disappointment when Spencer quickly pulled away. Hanna stood from her spot on Emily's bed and moved to sit next to Aria. "Han you didn't have to move."

Aria and Hanna looked at each other, giving each other a smirk. This prompted the curiosity of the other two, unsure of what the cause of the look was for.

"What?" Emily questioned.

"Nothing, its just easier if I move. You guys are like magnets. If I didn't move you guys would be making googly-eyes at each other from across the room the entire time," Hanna explained which caused Aria to let out a laugh. Spencer rolled her eyes in disbelief but chose to ignore it and not argue against it. Instead she took Hanna's place and sat herself beside Emily, leaning her head on the girl's shoulder.

"Okay, so A has been decently quiet lately. It's kind of getting concerning," Spencer mentions to the girls.

"Who cares, as long as I don't have to sleep with one eye open anymore I could care less," Hanna commented while continuing to flip through a magazine.

"No Han, Spencer's right. I mean, when has it ever meant anything good when A is silent? Usually the longer A is quiet the bigger the backlash," Aria told the girls. "And this A is different than Mona."

"Well whoever it is seems pretty quiet ever since everything that happened up to when Garrett got released from jail. Maybe that's all they wanted and now that they got what they wanted, they can finally leave us alone," Emily brought up.

_(flashback)_

_"What could Melissa, Jenna, and Lucas possibly have to talk about?" Aria questioned as they talked about the recent revelation of Melissa's involvement with the masquerade. The girls were sat in Aria's living room for the first time since they discovered that Spencer's sister might be more involved with A than they knew._

_"Who knows? Lucas has been completely AWOL since that night and we now know that Jenna spent her summer in the hospital," Emily replied, feeling uneasy about the situation._

_"Ugh, don't remind me. You know I liked it better when Jenna was playing Helen Keller," Hanna commented._

_"Hanna!" the three girls said simultaneously to her comment._

_"What its true! She was less scary when she was blind. Now when I see her without her sunglasses I feel like she's gonna steal my soul or something," Hanna explained. The girls shook their head at what Hanna had said. "Okay what about Noel?"_

_"What about him?" Spencer questioned skeptically. As far as she was concerned, all Noel was, was a nuisance that went out of his way to give people a hard time._

_"You mean aside from the fact that he dated queen bitch, and since then made the upgrade to dating Satan?" Hanna retorted, referring to Mona and Jenna._

_"Hanna might actually be onto something," Emily mentioned. The girls all turned their attention to the swimmer, unsure as to what she was referring to. Emily shifted in her spot, looking down at her hands. "One night when I went to have dinner with Maya, I saw her talking to Noel. She said he was just helping her with something on her phone, but I don't know. They might have been friends. If A killed her too, then Noel might know something."_

_"How come we're just hearing about this now?" Aria questioned. Emily shrugged and looked away._

_"Garrett got put behind bars. Mona was put in Radley. A was gone," she replied quietly. "I just wanted it to all be over with."_

_Even though it'd been almost six months since Maya's death, the girls knew it was still a touchy subject. Spencer shifted in her spot and pulled Emily towards her so that the swimmer was in her arms. She took her hand in Emily's and placed a kiss on the top of her head, trying to comfort her._

_"We'll figure it out, Em." Spencer said softly._

* * *

_The four girls sat in Spencer's living room, all completely silent. Emily had her head in her hands, rubbing her temples while Spencer sat silently next to her, rubbing her back. Hanna sat on the ground beside Emily, with Aria across from her. Both were staring at each other, unsure of what to think or say. They had just finished watching video footage of what they believed to be the last sighting of Maya before she was killed. And to their disbelief, the timestamp proved it to be impossible that Garrett killed her._

_"How did you even get that video?" Hanna asked, finally breaking the silence._

_"Noel Kahn gave it to me after I practically begged him to tell me if he knew anything when I told him I knew about he and Maya's friendship," Spencer told her. Hanna refocused on the laptop in front of them, still blown away by it all._

_"Guys, we have to go to the police about this. I mean this proves Garrett didn't kill Maya. Which means her killer is still out there," Aria told them. As much as they hated Garrett for everything he had done, Aria was right. They didn't care about him rotting in jail for a crime he didn't commit. They cared about the possibility that a killer was still on the loose in Rosewood. "Like, right now. Before A finds a way to take this from us."_

_The girls stood up and began to pack up their stuff as Spencer put the video file on a USB to take to the precinct. They were just about to leave the room when Veronica Hastings walked in. She looked up from the pile of papers she was staring at upon entrance to see all four girls staring back at her._

_"Perfect, I'm glad I have all four of you in the same room. I wanted you to hear this from me first. Garrett was just released," Veronica told the girls. The four girls looked at each other, confused. Though they knew Garrett didn't kill Maya, he was still supposed to be on trial for Ali's murder too. It didn't seem possible for him to have gotten off the hook for all of those charges._

_"How is that even possible, Mom?" Spencer questioned. Veronica gestured for the girls to sit down as she walked towards them. She sighed and sat in the empty armchair that faced them._

_"They were able to prove that the evidence was tampered with. And that evidence was all the prosecution had against Garrett. Without the evidence, they have no case," she explained. Veronica shifted towards Emily and placed a hand on her knee in support. "I'm sorry, girls. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear. But he's an innocent man."_

_Veronica stood from her place and moved her arm to Emily's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze before she walked away. They waited for her to leave the room completely before discussing the news. Emily took a pillow from the couch and held it to her face, letting out a brief scream into it._

_"You've gotta be friggen kidding me," Emily let out afterwards. She ran a hand through her hair, visibly frustrated with what they had just been told. "So we're back to square one."_

_Spencer was about to make a comment about the situation but was stopped by the sound of their phones simultaneously going off. Emily sighed, not in the mood to deal with anything A related anymore. The girls took out their phones, knowing what to expect. And sure enough, they were right. One new message. From Unknown._

_"Wasn't that fun?" Hanna started._

_"You should really be taking notes," Emily read._

_"Because I want you to remember how easy it is for me to put people in and out of jail," Aria stated._

_"Wait for it, ladies," Spencer finished._

_"A."_

_(end of flashback)_

"Yeah, but we also haven't seen Garrett since he was let out of prison. It's like he packed up his entire life and then left," Aria observed. "And as weird as it is, he might be the only person who knows anything about Melissa being mixed into this."

"Now that you mention it – and keep an open mind about this – I was thinking maybe I could try and contact him. See if he can tell me anything," Spencer suggested. Emily shot a look of disapproval over to her, clearly against the idea. But at this point, the girls didn't have many options left. The only other person that could possibly know anything about Melissa would be Wren. And he had clearly already taken sides.

"Spencer…" Emily began, but was cut off.

"Em, she's right. He's our only chance," Aria interrupted. Emily quickly turned her attention to Aria, glaring at her.

"And I'm sure if it were Ezra volunteering you'd feel the exact same way I do," the swimmer argued back. Hanna remained silent, seeing both sides of the argument. Spencer let out a sigh and tried to coax Emily into looking back at her. Her glare lingered at Aria momentarily as the small girl put her arms up in defeat. She then redirected her attention over to Spencer.

"I know you're worried, Em. But I'll be safe, I promise. I'm not going off to go meet him in a back alley or anything. I just want to see if I can contact him, and maybe get him to talk. That's all, I promise," Spencer explained. Emily looked at her frustrated, trying not to give in. But she believed Spencer, and trusted her to keep herself safe. After reconsidering it, her resolved softened.

"Fine," she concluded. Emily sat up in her bed, crossing her arms over her chest. Hanna and Aria could feel the tension between the two girls rising. They glanced at each other and as if on cue they both stood up to leave.

"Well, I have to go meet Caleb," Hanna stated as she quickly packed up her things. Spencer knew they were just trying to avoid a now angry Emily, but she didn't blame them.

"And I have to go pick up Mike from lacrosse," Aria told them. The two girls grabbed their bags hastily and quickly made their way outside of Emily's house. Emily remained in the same position, sitting silently with her arms crossed, looking anywhere away from Spencer's general direction. Spencer stood up and closed the bedroom door before climbing back onto the bed and kneeling beside Emily. Very tentatively, she went to place her hand on one of the girl's arms. When the swimmer didn't shrug away, Spencer took it as a sign that she could proceed. She gently placed her other palm on Emily's cheek, trying to get her attention. Emily closed her eyes momentarily and let out a sigh before finally locking eyes with her girlfriend's.

"Em please don't be mad," Spencer softly told her as she stroked her thumb across the girl's cheek. She could see the girl's eyes watering up, as she remained silent to Spencer. "Talk to me, sweetheart."

"I'm… I'm scared. I'm scared of all of this. Of you and me and how you make me feel. Because it could all be taken away from something completely out of my control; whether it's from A or some kind of freak accident or college or anything. I don't want to lose you. I can't," Emily told her. Her voice was shaky as she tried to maintain her composure. Spencer was taken aback, but she knew there was more to it than that.

"College?" Spencer questioned. It stood out to her, because Emily had never brought up college. She could see where the other fears had come from, but they had never discussed anything in relation to college before, which is what made it stand out to her so much. Emily sighed and looked away from her, which was what let Spencer know that she had figured out what was really bothering the girl in front of her. "Em come on, what about college?"

"It's just… You've had your heart set on UPenn since I've ever known you. I don't even know if I want to go to UPenn, or anywhere in state. It was always about Danby, and I mean coach has talked to me about applying to Columbia because they mentioned a full scholarship offer. But other than that, I've never even thought of going anywhere else. And I can't ask you to change your dream. It just makes me feel like losing you is inevitable," Emily explained. She uncrossed her arms and looked down while she played with her hands. Spencer put her hand on top of the girl's, which caused her to look up. Spencer took one of Emily's hands and interlocked it with her own.

"UPenn has always been my parents' dream for me. And I always forced it to be my dream because of the Hastings legacy that I thought I had to live up to. But I want to carve my own path, Em. I want to be in charge of my own future. And as of right now, the only dream I have is for a future with you," Spencer told her. Emily looked up at her with a small smile on her face. "How about we do it together. Columbia has an early admission deadline we can hit if we apply soon. And if Columbia is interested in you just based off of last season, imagine all the other offers you'll be getting after this season. I say we go for it - Columbia, and if that doesn't work out then the rest of them too. Lets build a future together."

Emily broke out into a full grin and pulled Spencer in for a hug. She was finally getting what she wanted; a future she could look forward to with the girl of her dreams. They separated and Spencer softly kissed Emily who was smiling into the kiss.

"I'd love nothing more than to build a future with you, Spencer Hastings."

* * *

Spencer and Aria were sat in The Brew. It had been a week since they had last sat down together – the day they decided Spencer would look for Garrett Reynolds. She still went unsuccessful, but it had fully consumed her schedule nonetheless. This was the first time all week she had been able to sit down and focus on something other than him; and the only reason she was able to pull away from her search was because Aria requested she help her with a World Literature assignment. So the two sat together as they had been for the past hour and a half while Aria flipped through her textbook.

"Crap, my highlighter just died. Spence do you have another I could borrow?" Aria asked. Spencer nodded and began to dig through her purse to find one. As she was sifting through her bag, Spencer found a crumpled up brochure that was from Columbia University. She immediately froze in her spot and dropped her purse from her hands. Aria looked up from her textbook to see Spencer completely petrified. "Spence?"

The girl didn't respond though. Instead, Spencer put her head in her hands, beginning to mumble incoherently to Aria. She looked up briefly, and ran a hand through her hair before pulling her daily planner out. Spencer flipped through the book profusely, and upon landing on the page she was looking for, she slammed the book shut and dropped it on the table in front of her. She leaned back in the couch and once again brought her hands up to her face, covering it in disbelief.

"I'm such. An idiot," Spencer let out loudly. Aria looked around unsure of what to do, when her eyes met Emily's who was standing across the room, working. Aria gestured to Spencer who was now groaning angrily into her hands. Emily gave her a look of confusion to which Aria shrugged and mouthed 'help'. The swimmer held up a finger, telling her to wait as she brought another table their order before coming towards the two girls. She tried to fight off a grin because she always thought Spencer looked adorable when she was frustrated. Emily sat down on the other side of Spencer and gently took one of her hands away from her face.

"Spence? What's wrong?" Emily asked softly. Spencer took her hands away from her face and looked at her girlfriend who stared back at her concerned. She sat up and ran her hand through her hair.

"I'm so sorry, Em. I completely messed up," Spencer started. She exhaled deeply and broke eye contact. "I forgot to hand in my application to Columbia. And now the deadline has passed. I might not get in now."

Aria's face went from a look of concern to a look of shock. Spencer never forgot to do anything. She was Spencer Hastings, and she was always on top of everything, especially when it was school related. Aria put her hand on Spencer's back, trying to show some sort of comfort. She glanced over at Emily sympathetically, and was surprised when she saw that Emily didn't look angry or upset. Rather, she looked amused. Emily kissed Spencer on the forehead before standing up and walking away. Aria watched her briefly disappear into the staff only area of The Brew, only to return with a piece of paper in her hands. She once again sat beside Spencer, nudging the piece of paper towards her. Spencer took it out of her hands and looked at it, confused.

"What's this?" Spencer questioned. It looked like any other normal receipt, except it had a code below it.

"That's a reference code you can use to track registered mail. More importantly, that's the reference code you can use to track your application to Columbia; to make sure that it was delivered," Emily explained, but she could tell Spencer was still confused. "You were so busy this past week I figured you might forget to mail it. So I checked it over after we filled them out together, and I mailed it with mine."

Spencer let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and her demeanor completely changed from one of upset to one of complete happiness. She pulled Emily in for a kiss and thanked her for taking such good care of her. Aria smiled at her two friends, briefly admiring their relationship. Emily was softly whispering into Spencer's ear, and she smiled and blushed before looking away. The swimmer placed a kiss on her cheek and then stood up and walked away, returning to work. Aria noticed Spencer watching Emily work, and she let out a soft laugh, which caught her friend's attention.

"So, it's been almost two months now. How's everything with you and Em?" Aria asked while turning her attention back to the textbook in front of her. Spencer picked up a few papers on the table, trying to regain her focus on the project in front of her.

"It's amazing, Ar. She's amazing. She keeps me grounded, you know? Doesn't let me get away with stuff. Calls me out when I'm being a jerk. But she's just so sweet too. I couldn't ask for anything better than what she's given me," Spencer replied. Aria smiled at how Spencer was describing their relationship.

"And the sex?" she questioned. Spencer instantly felt her face get warmer as she turn to Aria, completely caught off guard.

"Aria!" Spencer let out. The smaller girl began to giggle at her reaction, and Spencer couldn't help but join in on the laughter. She shook her head as the laughter died down and then looked over at Aria. "It hasn't happened yet."

Aria's jaw dropped, completely shocked. She did a double take at Spencer, making sure that the girl wasn't lying to her. But she saw the sincerity in Spencer's eyes and knew she wasn't kidding.

"Actually? Oh my… God, not going to lie Hanna and I guessed you would have been doing it within days of going out," Aria confessed. Spencer's eyes widened at what Aria stated. She laughed and then shook her head at the thought. "What? It's a fair assumption; you guys are like… ridiculously into each other. I can't imagine what it's going to be like after you actually do it."

"I just… I've never… Y'know?" Spencer said quietly.

"Not even with Toby?" Aria questioned. It was news to her too, because she and Toby always seemed so intense together. Spencer shook her head no at Aria's question.

"It just never felt right. But with Emily… I know what I want. But I want it to be perfect too," Spencer explained. Aria nodded in understanding.

"If there's anything I know, it's that you can't plan the perfect moment. It'll just happen," she said. Aria looked over to Spencer only to see her staring up at Emily as she was interacting with customers. Aria smiled and nudged the girl. "You're already in love with her, aren't you?"

Spencer took her eyes off of Emily after hearing what Aria asked. She bit her lip, and nodded. At that exact moment, Emily glanced over at the girls on the couch and locked eyes with Spencer. She felt her heart skip a beat as Emily gave her a warm smile. The swimmer quickly cleaned the table that her customers had just left, and then made her way over to the two girls once more.

"Do you guys need anything?" she asked. Aria looked up from her project and shook her head with a smile. Emily turned her attention to Spencer who lifted her empty coffee mug.

"If it isn't too much trouble, some more coffee please?" Spencer asked. Emily took the mug from her hands and was about to turn, when she felt a hand trying to stop her. "And a date tonight? 8 o'clock?"

Emily bit her lip and smiled at her girlfriend, then gave her a soft kiss.

"I'd love to." Emily pulled away, winked at the girl and then walked away. Spencer watched the girl in front of her, completely mesmerized. For the rest of the afternoon, Spencer couldn't take her mind off of the beautiful girl in front of her.

* * *

Spencer stood at the foot of Emily's stairs and checked her watch. It was only 7:45, but she'd finished setting their date up early, she figured it couldn't hurt to check if Emily was ready go to early. The brunette made her way up Emily's staircase, and the further up she got, the louder she could hear the music coming from her room. She approached Emily's open bedroom door and stood in the doorway watching possibly the cutest thing she'd ever witnessed. Emily stood in her white tank top and light blue underwear. Her black locks were already in perfect waves as the girl held a hairbrush in her hand, singing into it. The swimmer was perfectly mimicking the scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, singing along to The Beatles' rendition of Twist and Shout as she did the twist. Spencer leaned against the sidewall, trying to hold her laugh in. Emily shook her hips to the music and turned towards Spencer's direction, instantly stopping when she saw the brunette in the doorway. She went wide-eyed as Spencer let out a belt of laughter she had been holding in for the past two minutes.

"Spencer you scared the crap out of me! What are you doing here?" Emily asked after turning the music off. Spencer's laughter died down and she wiped a tear that had fallen from her eyes due to laughing so hard.

"Catching the end of Ferris Bueller's Day Off apparently," Spencer replied, to which Emily joined in on the laughter. She handed Emily a new red rose to replace the one that she had gotten the swimmer on their first date. Emily thanked her while taking it from her and putting it in the vase where she kept all of the flowers that the brunette had given her. Then, she redirected her attention back to her girlfriend.

"It's one of my all-time favourite movies, with one of the best dance sequences featuring music by one of the greatest bands ever," Emily defended. Spencer held her hands up in defeat.

"Hey, I'm not knocking it. Besides, that was probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen," she replied. Spencer took the girl in her hands and placed a kiss on her lips. Emily wrapped her arms around the girl's neck and pulled her in again, which prompted Spencer to put her arms on the girl's waist. She began to move her hands from her waist, around her back as their kiss deepened. It wasn't until she started to move her hands down that she realized Emily was almost naked in front of her. Spencer felt herself get warmer, and pulled away to contain herself. "Okay, you need to put clothes on, and I need to go wait downstairs."

Emily nodded and gave Spencer one more kiss before letting her go. The swimmer emerged from her room about ten minutes after and came downstairs to see Spencer and her mom having a conversation. They were laughing at something, and all Emily hoped for was that they weren't talking about her. Spencer heard the creaking of Emily's stairs and turned her attention to the girl who now had dark blue jeans on with a grey tank top underneath her black leather jacket. She stood from the couch in the living room and made her way over to Emily. The taller girl took Spencer's hand in hers.

"You look beautiful, Spence," Emily asked as she admired the girl's simple look of black skinny jeans with a dark blue hooded sweater. It was simple, but it looked perfect on her. The brunette blushed and looked away. "Ready, babe?"

Spencer nodded and turned back to Pam who stood up to see the two girls out.

"Have fun, girls," Pam told them. Spencer gave her a brief hug and Emily immediately followed after.

"We will, Pam. It was nice to see you," Spencer replied politely. Pam smiled at the two girls and held the front door open for them. The two girls exited the Fields' house, and Emily immediately headed for Spencer's car only to be stopped. "No car tonight, we're walking."

Spencer quickly ran to her trunk and took out a backpack. She closed her SUV and locked it, then took Emily by the hand and led them away. Spencer took them down a path near her house that Emily had never walked down before. The two walked in silence as Emily cuddled into Spencer's side. They spent about half an hour hiking up a mountain, and it was in those thirty minutes that Emily was happy she was an athlete. Otherwise, her lungs probably would have given out within the first five minutes.

"Where on Earth are you taking me Spencer Hastings?" Emily questioned as they finally hit flatland. Spencer's breathing was faster than usual as she tried to control her breathing. She backtracked her steps slightly and took Emily's hand back in hers; they had let go earlier when the path became too narrow for them to walk side by side. The brunette led them through the last stretch of trees into a clearing. Emily's breath caught at the view. It was a secluded open area of grass that overlooked Rosewood. There was a picnic blanket already laid out for the girls. Spencer led her near the edge of the view, allowing Emily to truly take it in. She came around Emily and wrapped her arms around her from behind so that Emily could relax into her arms.

"It was the highest point of Rosewood I could find and map. For when you need a safe place," Spencer whispered softly in her ear. Emily closed her eyes momentarily and took it all in, and then turned in Spencer's arms and gave her a kiss.

"It's breath-taking, Spence. Thank you, so much," Emily told her. Spencer gestured to the picnic blanket that was set up, and allowed her to sit down while she got their picnic out of the backpack she brought. Spencer took out paper plates and cups, a bottle of water to split between the two of them, and a few sandwiches that she had prepared. "Peanut butter and jelly?"

Spencer nodded and Emily grinned. Peanut butter and jelly was her absolute favourite. They quietly sat with each other, eating their late dinner. The girls shyly looked at each other and then looked away quickly, as if it were their first date.

"I feel like we haven't gotten any time to just sit and relax all week," Emily said in between bites. Spencer nodded, knowing it was true. The girls had been busy with their own activities, and it seemed like every time one was free, the other wasn't. But today they were finally able to find time to seclude themselves from the rest of the world and just be together.

"How's everything going with swimming? McCullers keeping her hands to herself?" Spencer joked. Emily gave her a joking glare, and Spencer let out a laugh. She had tried to keep the time she spent with Paige to a minimal, knowing that the girl had a crush on her. But being on the same swim team made it inevitable for them to see each other.

"Yes, babe she keeps her hands to herself," Emily replied and started to repetitively give her short kisses in between her words. "My first swim meet is this week. You're coming right?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Em," she replied in between kisses. Spencer packed away the food once they were done eating and pulled out another blanket. She moved the current one that was already on the ground towards a tree, and sat back down, leaning against the tree. "Come sit with me?"

Emily sat down and allowed herself to be held by the brunette. Spencer put the second blanket on top of them and relaxed with Emily in her arms. The two sat in silence, staring out into the night and admiring the view.

"I can't wait for all the meets I'm going to get to watch when we're at Columbia together," Spencer whispered. Emily shifted in her arms and turned to look her girlfriend in the eyes.

"I can't wait to start my entire life with you, Spencer Hastings." The two girls cuddled in closely together and spent the rest of the night whispering sweet nothings to one another while relaxing in each other's arms.

**Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Reviews? Let me know! I wasn't as happy with this chapter as I wanted to be, but I struggled with some writer's block all week so this was a tough one to pull out.**


	9. Chapter 9

Title: Better With You

Rating: T with potential for M (Will warn if it gets to that)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Pretty Little Liars or in relation to any pop culture references that are made in this chapter.

Summary: After spending a large portion of their Summer apart, the girls are back together for their senior year at Rosewood High. Mona is in Radley, Garrett's been arrested, Maya is dead, and emotions still run high. Emily returns from Haiti in hopes to move past what she's been put through, and finds happiness in an unexpected place. A Spemily focused story with mentions of Ezria and Haleb. Storyline with "A" but not the main focus. The story follows the regular season one and two storyline, and begins after the opening scene of season three, however the night ends differently.

**A/N - There is an M part of this chapter, I will put a warning in the text for those that want to skip it.**

Chapter 9 – Everything Has Changed

Spencer leaned against the pillar outside the doors of the natatorium. She watched as Emily talked to what looked like the fourth scout that approached her after her swim meet. Not only had Emily broken her personal best during her first swim meet, she had been given the go-ahead to swim anchor in the 400 Free Relay. Her speed was the reason they had won the 400 Free and ultimately the reason they had won the meet. Spencer could not have been more proud of her girlfriend. She saw Emily shake hands with the man in front of her before turning and making her way towards the brunette. Spencer greeted her with a kiss and then engulfed Emily in her arms.

"You killed it out there, Em!" Spencer told her while still holding Emily in her arms. They broke apart and Emily gave her a smile.

"Thanks, babe! And thanks for coming to watch. It was a lot easier knowing I had you there cheering me on," Emily told her. She kissed Spencer on the cheek again and linked their hands together. "That guy I was just talking to was Columbia's scout. He said he wanted to check in and see which other schools were trying to recruit me."

"And?" Spencer asked curiously. Emily hid a smile as she looked down.

"Stanford, Penn State, UCLA," she said shyly. Spencer put her hand on Emily's cheek and caught her gaze. She smiled at Emily who bit her lip and looked away. Spencer knew that Emily was never one to acknowledge her own talent. She always shied away from it.

"That's incredible, Em! You know you can be more excited. You were amazing today, embrace it," Spencer told her. She placed a kiss on Emily's forehead and was about to lead them out of the school, but was stopped when Paige approached them from behind.

"Hey, Emily! Great job out there today," she stated while placing her arm on Emily's back. She looked to Spencer and could immediately sense her girlfriend's annoyance with her teammate.

"Thanks, Paige. You too. And great job on beating your personal best in butterfly today," Emily told her, reciprocating the compliment. Paige smiled at her as though Emily had just called her God.

"My butterfly was alright, but your freestyle was off the charts. You really know how to move in the water," Paige stated. Spencer raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes at Paige's comment; something that Paige had caught. "Spencer, don't you think Emily was great?"

"Yup. Just awesome," Spencer replied curtly. Emily looked over to her girlfriend and could sense the jealousy dripping off of her. Paige looked from Spencer to Emily, and could feel the tension build up.

"Well. I'll let you two get going. Great job again, see you at practice on Monday," she told them. Paige awkwardly moved the hand she had on Emily's back and pulled her in for a quick one-armed hug. The raven-haired girl was caught off guard but slightly reciprocated. After Paige had walked away, Emily glanced over at Spencer who had a look of complete irritation on her face, which made her smile. She tried to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing, but once she saw Spencer glare at the back of Paige's head, she couldn't help it.

"What?" Spencer asked when Emily began to laugh. The two began to walk out of the school and towards Spencer's car.

"I just think it's hilarious when you get all jealous on me over nothing. It's cute," Emily elaborated. Spencer rolled her eyes, knowing that Emily never found the jealousy threatening; rather, she always seemed to get a good chuckle out of it.

"Oh come on, Em that was not nothing. I thought I was gonna have to get a bucket from the janitor's closet with how much she was drooling over you," Spencer told her. "She makes it so blatantly obvious that she wants you."

Emily approached Spencer's SUV and opened the back door, putting her duffel in the back seat. Spencer stood outside of the passenger side door, opening it for Emily and waiting for her to get in. Emily shut the back door and turned to Spencer, placing a soft kiss on her lips. The two pulled away, and Spencer locked eyes with her. The swimmer softly touched Spencer's cheek, keeping their gazes together.

"She may make it blatantly obvious that she wants me, but I assure you I make it even more obvious that I'm crazy about you," Emily told the girl. Spencer's gaze softened and she felt herself get butterflies in her stomach. "Now lets go get something to eat, okay?"

Spencer nodded and the two kissed once more before Emily pulled away and got into the SUV while Spencer came around the car and got into her own side. She put the car into drive and then linked their hands together before peeling away from the curb and making her way to her favourite diner.

* * *

The girls were sat in the lobby area waiting for Cayleigh to see them to their table. Emily looked around the diner, recalling the last time they had been there – when Spencer came out to her. She smiled to herself, recalling what had happened. It was a rough day for her girlfriend, but a day she wouldn't change for anything in the world. She felt a nudge from the girl beside her and looked over to see Spencer smiling back at her.

"What's on your mind, pretty girl?" Spencer questioned having noticed the smile that she had on her face. Emily leaned her head on Spencer's shoulder, cuddling into her.

"Just thinking about the last time we were here. How much everything has changed in just two months. And how happy I am with you," she admitted. Spencer's breath caught and she felt her heart flutter at Emily's confession. She smiled and placed a kiss on Emily's forehead, then leaned her head on Emily's. The two had their hands intertwined and Spencer was playing with their fingers.

"That was one of the best days of my life. Despite what occurred, it was essentially the catalyst for everything that makes me happy in my life right now," Spencer told the girl. "You have no idea how excited I get at the thought of 4 more years at Columbia with you."

"Did I hear someone say Columbia?"

The girls looked up simultaneously to see Cayleigh standing in front of them. They both stood up and Spencer engulfed the girl in a hug, not having seen each other in two months.

"Hey Cayleigh! You remember my girlfriend Emily, right?" Spencer asked as she gestured to Emily. The swimmer grinned at Spencer's introduction and waved to Cayleigh, acknowledging her presence. Cayleigh raised her eyebrows at Spencer and nodded her head in approval with a slight smile on her face.

"It's about time, Little H. Nicely done. By the way you guys might have to wait a little bit to grab seats, but I thought I'd come say hi because I'm on break," Cayleigh told them. "So you two applied for Columbia? Good choice, I went there too. Used to hang out on campus with Melissa all the time."

"Wait what? Melissa went to UPenn," Spencer stated matter-of-factly. Cayleigh looked at Spencer, confused. She realized that Spencer wasn't kidding, and gestured for them to sit back down, as she joined them beside Spencer.

"Are you sure? Maybe she spent a semester at Columbia. I mean she was there all the time. 2 hours is a long way to drive just to hang around the campus of a school you don't attend," Cayleigh told her. Spencer looked away completely confused. Melissa always emphasized the importance of the Hastings legacy. There was no way she would have deterred from that, even if it were just for a semester.

"Are you sure it was Melissa Hastings? Maybe you have her confused with someone else," Emily suggested. It was really the only explanation she could think of at this point, because nothing else seemed to make sense.

"No I'm positive this is Melissa Hastings. She was at our orientation and everything. That's where she met that boy toy of hers," Cayleigh replied. Spencer drew her gaze back over to her.

"Ian went to UPenn too, I'm sure of it. He played on their lacrosse team," Spencer replied. She knew that she was right about it, because she had heard Ian talk about it enough times while he was her coach to have had it drilled into her mind.

"Not Ian. Med school guy; Wren?" she told the girls. When there was silence, she knew that she was right. "Yeah, I remember it so vividly because they dated all semester, but then they got into a huge fight at this frat party we were all at because of some girl that Wren hooked up with before they met. All I remember was her freaking out and yelling something about how of all the girls on the entire planet, he hooked up with the one she hated more than anything."

Spencer and Emily locked eyes and had the exact same thought at the exact same time. Ali. But Ali had never mentioned anything about Columbia, ever. Then again, they seemed to be finding out more and more recently that Ali didn't share a lot of her life with them.

"Do you know who they were talking about?" Emily questioned, hoping to get a name, or some sort of evidence that it wasn't whom the both of them were thinking. Cayleigh shrugged and shook her head no.

"Melissa would never give me specifics, I only got what I overheard. Like when she freaked out at Wren in Cape May during the summer because she found out he almost got someone pregnant. Which was ironic too, because if I remember correctly, they weren't dating. And she briefly got back with Ian shortly after that. But from how she acted, you'd think she was solely in love with the doc."

* * *

Emily was sat in her living room, flipping through the channels on her TV. Spencer came in and sat next to her girlfriend after just finishing cleaning up their take out containers. After the conversation with Cayleigh, the girls didn't have much of a desire to sit in the diner anymore. Instead, they ordered their food to go and asked Hanna and Aria to meet them so they could discuss what they just discovered.

The swimmer shifted in her place to lie down, and pulled Spencer on top of her so that they could lie together. She ran her fingers through Spencer's soft brunette locks while Spencer traced patterns on the exposed skin near Emily's waist. Spencer began to place kisses on the girl's stomach, running her hands up Emily's sides to expose more skin. Emily could feel her heartbeat begin to pick up as she looked down at what Spencer was doing to her. She was about to push herself up so she could kiss her girlfriend, but she heard her front door open which immediately prompted the two of them to sit up.

Hanna and Aria stopped in the foyer, noticing that the two girls seemed a bit flustered. Aria was wide-eyed and Hanna stood with her mouth slightly agape. Emily rolled her eyes and pulled her shirt down before shifting closer to her visibly rattled girlfriend.

"We didn't interrupt anything, did we?" Hanna asked with a smile on her face. The girls immediately knew what the blonde was hinting to, and found it funny how interested she was in their love life. Both Emily and Spencer shook their heads at the girl's question. Aria nudged the blonde.

"Han I'm pretty sure her mom is home," Aria scolded.

"Actually she's working the night shift at the precinct so she'll be gone all night. But no Hanna, we were just watching TV together," Emily explained. "I know you guys both have plans tonight. Spencer does too, so lets just talk about this really quickly. She and I weren't sure what to think of it."

Hanna and Aria walked into Emily's living room and sat on the armchairs that were on either side of the couch that the other two girls were sat on. Emily took the remote and turned the volume up really loudly on the TV. It had become standard practice for the girls to create background noise in case A was listening in on their conversations. Spencer gave them a run down of the conversation that occurred with Cayleigh earlier that day, and by the end of it, Hanna and Aria were in just as much shock and confusion as they had been too. From what was said, they could conclude that if Wren was up in Cape May that summer, the girl that Wren was hooking up with could have been Ali. It seemed impossible, but at the same time it was the only logical conclusion they could draw. But if what Cayleigh was saying was true, it also meant Ali could have been pregnant when she was buried.

"There was one time… That time Ben told everyone that we were having sex; Ali and I were walking home one day after that, and she mentioned that it would be a good idea for me to go on birth control. Said she knew a doctor who could help her," Emily told the girls. They looked at each other, shocked. "What if that was who she was talking about?"

"Clearly she should have taken her own advice," Aria muttered.

"But… If that girl was Ali then that means she and Wren had sex when Ali was only 15. That's just… It's wrong," Hanna spoke. They all shifted uncomfortably. All the girls knew what it meant. But they refused to believe it.

"Keep in mind that I was only 16 when Wren came onto me. Somehow I think Wren is willing to turn the other cheek on that," Spencer reminded the girl.

"Could we please stop talking about this?" Emily asked. The girls shifted their gazes over to the swimmer who looked visibly uncomfortable. "I just don't like hearing about that."

Spencer placed her hand on Emily's leg and the other girls looked at her sympathetically. It was a double whammy for her, having to talk both about Ali's potential intimacy with Wren, and Spencer's former intimacy with him as well. It wasn't like she was still in love with Ali. It was that despite what Ali put her friends through, she knew the girl was a good person who didn't deserve what happened to her.

"Are we still going shopping for our Halloween costumes tomorrow?" Hanna asked the girls, trying to shift the direction of the conversation. Emily shifted her gaze to the blonde and silently thanked her.

"Tomorrow afternoon, right?" Aria asked. The girls were now all standing and heading towards the door.

"Yeah, I'll call you guys when I'm on my way to pick you up," Spencer told them. She turned to Emily and gave her a kiss on the lips and a quick hug. "I'll call you after I'm done with my mom and dad, okay babe?"

Emily nodded and gave her one more kiss before she left. She opened the door to let all three girls out, and said goodbye as they walked out of her house. Once they were gone, Emily closed the door and leaned against it. It was the first time within the week that she was able to relax and have a peaceful night. She planned to take full advantage of it.

* * *

Spencer sat in her room reading a book at the end of her night. She had spent the last two hours with her parents, and was now looking forward to some quiet time in her room. The girl had only gotten to read about two paragraphs when she heard her phone go off. Spencer contemplated leaving it to ring, but then she realized that it was midnight and she still hadn't called Emily. She leapt toward her bedside table and unplugged her phone from her charger to answer it.

"Hey babe I'm so sorry I forgot to call you," Spencer spoke into the phone. She relaxed in her bed and got comfortable, prepared to spend the rest of her night talking to Emily. She heard Emily let out a sigh of relief.

"I got worried when I didn't hear from you for so long. I couldn't sleep," Emily confessed. She imagined Spencer on the other side of the phone, smiling at how concerned the swimmer was. But she couldn't help it, Emily always worried when it came to Spencer.

"I know I'm sorry sweetheart. I know how you worry, that was my mistake. How was your evening?" Spencer asked.

"It was good, I had nice long bath, and I read a little bit of a novel that Fitz told me to check out. It's really good so far. You should check it out if you haven't already. Atonement by Ian McEwan," she told her.

"Ah, yeah. I've read it. 'I've never had a moments doubt.' It's definitely a good read," Spencer commented. The two girls allowed silence to take over their conversation for a bit. When it came to phone conversation, both were completely content with just listening to the other breathe - to just know that they were there.

"Tell me a secret. Tell me something you've never said out loud to anyone before," Emily whispered into the phone. Spencer remained silent on the other end, before Emily heard the sound of ruffling. She got confused and wondered if the girl had fallen asleep on her. As she was about to ask if the girl was still there, Spencer answered.

"Let me call you back, okay?" Spencer told the girl, immediately hanging up without waiting for Emily to respond. The swimmer sat in her bed, confused at her girlfriend's actions. She waited for 10 minutes without a single word from Spencer. Afraid that she said something wrong, Emily decided she was going to call her girlfriend back. She picked up her phone and began to dial Spencer's number, when her phone began to go off. It was Spencer calling her back.

"What happened to you, why'd you hang up?" Emily asked immediately as she answered her phone.

"Can you let me in? I'm outside," Spencer replied, not acknowledging her question. Emily hung up her phone and quickly moved downstairs to her front door. She checked to make sure that it was Spencer standing outside of her house, and when she saw the brunette outside in her sweat pants and Rosewood Sharks hoodie, Emily unlocked her door and let the girl in. Spencer engulfed the girl in her arms and pulled her in for a kiss. After locking the door behind them, Emily led her upstairs back to her room where she had been previously.

"What made you come over?" Emily asked curiously. Spencer glanced over at the girl's bedside table and spotted what she was looking for. She walked towards the girl's bed to pick it up.

"You asked me to tell you something I've never said out loud before. I wanted to say it in person," Spencer explained. She picked up what she had been looking for - Atonement by Ian McEwan. Spencer flipped through the pages until she found exactly what she was looking for. She nodded her head to Emily, silently telling her to come and look at what she had found in the book. Spencer pointed to a line in the book, gesturing for her to read it. Emily took it in her hands and saw the line that Spencer was referring to.

"I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life," Emily read as her breath caught. She looked up at Spencer, her eyes glossed over with tears.

"I have fallen completely and insanely head over heels in love with you, Emily Fields. From the second I saw you doing that goofy little Ferris Bueller dance I knew I found the girl that I want to spend the rest of my life with. I love you, all of you, with all of my heart," Spencer confessed. By this point, Emily was in tears of happiness. She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend squeezing her tightly against her body.

"I love you too, Spencer Hastings. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I can't wait for everything our future holds," Emily replied. The two locked their gazes and Emily placed a hand on Spencer's face, softly caressing her skin. Her eyes shifted to the brunette's lips, and then back up. Spencer's breathing increased and she licked her lips before leaning in and capturing Emily's with her own.

**[M WARNING]**

Emily moaned into the kiss and slowly led Spencer backwards toward her bed. Their lips remained together, and Spencer felt the back of her knees come into contact with the bed. She sat down while kicking off her shoes, forcing Emily to climb on top of her in order to maintain contact. Spencer ran her hands up and down the sides of her girlfriend, softly caressing the material that covered the girl on top of her. She slipped her hands underneath Emily's tank top, and the two broke apart briefly when Spencer lifted the fabric up and off of the girl's body. Spencer moved her lips to Emily's neck, kissing and sucking her neck softly. She moved her mouth towards Emily's ear and whispered, "I love you."

The raven-haired girl pulled away and they locked eyes once again. Spencer saw the look in Emily's eyes and knew everything would be safe. She pulled her hoodie over her head, and then allowed Emily to take her tank top off. Emily briefly stood up off of the girl, allowing Spencer to move so that she was lying fully on the bed before moving herself back onto the girl. She straddled the brunette and caught the girl's lips in her own, pushing her tongue into the girl's mouth without warning. Spencer let out a light moan and then kissed back, their tongues battling for dominance. Spencer moved her arms up Emily's bare back, running her fingernails over it. The swimmer moved her lips to the girl's neck, sucking her pulse point. Spencer felt her hips buck slightly into the girl on top of her, and scraped her fingernails down the girl's back.

She heard Emily moan into her ear and instantly felt herself throb. Spencer bit her lip and pulled Emily back in front of her, kissing her again. The brunette put her hands behind Emily and unclasped the girl's bra. Emily broke the kiss and pulled away, wanting Spencer to fully take everything in. The swimmer locked eyes with the girl and ran her tongue over her lips seductively while allowing the bra to drop. Spencer felt the heat rise within her as her breath caught at the sight of the beautiful girl that was in front of her. Without thinking, Spencer rolled them over, straddling her girlfriend. She took it upon herself to unhook her own bra and rid herself of the only fabric left between their upper bodies. Emily looked at her girlfriend in awe, and gently pulled her on top of her, passionately kissing the girl.

Emily ran her hands all over the bare upper body that was now on top of her and rolled them back over so that Emily was in a dominant position. She knew this was Spencer's first time, and she wanted it to be perfect for her. The girl began to kiss down Spencer's chest, moving to her left breast and taking her nipple in her mouth. The brunette let out a moan as her breathing increased. Spencer ran her fingers through Emily's soft black locks, urging her to continue as she swirled her tongue around her nipple. Emily brought her right hand to the other breast, gently fondling it. She left a trail of kisses that went lower and lower until her lips were met with the waistband of Spencer's sweatpants. She looked up at the beautiful woman that was in front of her.

"Are you sure, baby?" Emily asked softly. Spencer nodded, giving her the go-ahead to continue. The two shared a passionate kiss and Emily pulled away to continue her journey down Spencer's body. Emily ran her fingers along the waistband of Spencer's sweats before taking both her pants and underwear off simultaneously. She kissed up Spencer's inner thigh, feeling the brunette's hips buck towards her. The heat of her sex radiated in front of Emily, and the swimmer had to force herself to take it slow. Emily's lips moved closer and closer to the destination and Spencer tried not to squirm, but she couldn't help it. Emily had turned her on to the point where she could feel the wetness between her legs. Spencer put her hand in Emily's hair, guiding her to what she wanted.

Emily glanced up at Spencer once more, and saw the desire in her eyes. She kept her gaze on the brunette as she let her fingers slip into Spencer's folds. Spencer let out a deep moan that she had been holding in her throat as she closed her eyes and bit her lip in satisfaction. Emily spread the folds and gently blew against her sex.

"Oh god, Em," Spencer let out. She gripped Emily's hair in her hands, trying to maintain her composure. Spencer could feel Emily grinning as the girl placed kisses around her most sensitive area. Without warning, Emily plunged her tongue inside of her and Spencer let out a distressed scream. She lapped up the juices that had already built up before Emily ran her tongue over Spencer's clit and took it between her lips, sucking gently on it. She moved her tongue in circles, stimulating it as much as she could. Emily could feel Spencer moving against her mouth, and placed one of her hands on the girl's stomach, holding her in place. Spencer's breathing increased rapidly as she felt something building up inside of her. Emily could tell that Spencer was already close, so she took her mouth away from Spencer's center, which elicited a groan from the girl beneath her.

"You're ready?" Emily asked her once more. Spencer bit her lip and nodded. She felt the girl relax underneath her, and she slowly inserted one finger inside of the girl. Spencer let out a moan as Emily felt the girl's walls contract around her fingers. The two girls began to move in unison, Spencer meeting every thrust of Emily's with her own. She felt Emily add another finger inside of her, and that build up inside of her came back fiercely. Spencer let out an even louder moan, which fuelled Emily to quicken her pace, and just as Emily could feel the girl beneath her about to climax, she removed her fingers and replaced them with her mouth. Spencer let out a scream as she felt herself get pushed over the edge. Her entire body tensed and her hands held Emily's head in place. Emily lapped up all of Spencer's juices before coming back up to her and holding her while she came down from her high. Emily pulled the girl in her arms and placed gentle kisses all over Spencer's face. "I've got you, babe. I've got you."

Spencer tried to maintain her breathing as she looked up at Emily who was smiling down at her. Emily wiped the tears that had involuntarily fallen from her girlfriend's eyes, and Spencer smiled at her before pulling her in for a passionate kiss. Spencer pulled herself on top of the girl and began to kiss her neck. Emily pulled away and looked at her.

"You don't have to, Spence," Emily told the girl, knowing that she had taken a lot of energy out of her girlfriend. Spencer put a finger on her lips to silence her. Spencer licked her lips and grinned seductively at Emily while shaking her head.

"It's my turn now, Em."

**END OF M PORTION**

* * *

Spencer lay in bed with Emily in her arms, the two of them naked with only a blanket covering them. She played with the girl's hair, letting it flow in between her fingers. Watching Emily's evenly paced breathing, she admired the beautiful girl that slept, cuddled into her. Spencer placed a kiss on top of her head, careful to not wake her. She was about to doze off when she heard her phone vibrating. Spencer looked down at the girl sleeping next to her, and leaned over her body; careful to not wake her while she picked up her phone. One new message. From Unknown.

_It's Garrett. I'm back in town. But just for tonight. We need to talk. If you still want to meet, I'm at the park by my old house. Come now, and come alone._

Spencer took one more look at the sleeping Emily that was beside her. She weighed her options, and decided that the park was close enough to Emily's house that she could go and come back completely unnoticed. Slowly, she removed herself from the bed and got dressed. Spencer took her keys, kissed Emily once more, and took off. She drove to the park down the street and parked her car before running across the street and waiting on the bench.

She looked around, waiting for Garrett. 5 minutes passed, and then 10 but still no sign of him. She began to shiver, but refused to leave. Spencer took her phone out and tried to see if she could find Garrett's number, however was immediately disappointed when she saw that Garrett's number was blocked. Suddenly, she heard the leaves crunch behind her. Spencer turned around, expecting to see Garrett, but instead saw nobody. Then, sounds continued from another area, and Spencer snapped her head in that direction, to once again see nothing. It became too much, and Spencer decided that waiting for over half an hour was too long to wait. She didn't want to risk Emily waking up and thinking that she had bailed on her.

Spencer stood from the bench, and made her way back to her car. She stepped into the street, crossing it to get to her car. Halfway across the road, she saw lights from the distance. A car came racing at her, and she let out a blood-curling scream, waiting for the pain to come. But it didn't. The car swerved out of the way at the very last second, barely missing Spencer. The brunette unlocked her car and got into it, locking herself in while she tried to catch her breath. Her heart was racing, and she tried to maintain her calm when all of a sudden her phone went off, making her jump in her seat. She picked it up to see that she had received a text. One new message. From Unknown. Spencer opened her phone to read it.

_It was either him or you. But remember, next time I won't miss. -A_

**Comments? Thoughts? Suggestions? Reviews? Let me know!**


	10. Chapter 10

Title: Better With You

Rating: T with potential for M (Will warn if it gets to that)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in relation to Pretty Little Liars or in relation to any pop culture references that are made in this chapter.

Summary: After spending a large portion of their Summer apart, the girls are back together for their senior year at Rosewood High. Mona is in Radley, Garrett's been arrested, Maya is dead, and emotions still run high. Emily returns from Haiti in hopes to move past what she's been put through, and finds happiness in an unexpected place. A Spemily focused story with mentions of Ezria and Haleb. Storyline with "A" but not the main focus. The story follows the regular season one and two storyline, and begins after the opening scene of season three, however the night ends differently.

**A/N - I am so sorry for the lack of update last week! Finals are amiss, and consequently I don't have time to write. Bare with me though, I promise it's not permanent!**

**Chapter 10 – Cabin Fright Night**

"A tried to run you down with their car?" Aria questioned, completely shocked at the information that Spencer had just revealed. The two were mindlessly sifting through a rack of costumes as Spencer explained to the girl what had taken place the night before. "So what, was A feeling nostalgic or something? First Hanna and now you?"

"Except this one isn't Mona. I mean she ran Hanna down because she thought Hanna figured it out. I on the other hand, was almost killed for the purpose of A demonstrating their ability to end my life at any given moment," Spencer elaborated.

"Was that it though? Or was A trying to tell us that they killed Garrett?" Aria questioned. Spencer took her eyes away from the clothing rack and looked to Aria, her eyebrow raised.

"Let's be real, Aria. The number I got the texts from was blocked. That had set up written all over it. A was just trying to teach me a lesson," she explained. "I just can't believe I fell for it."

"Hey Spence that could have been any one of us," Aria told her in a comforting voice. The two walked away from the wall of clothing and exited the store before beginning to head to a different store. Aria glanced at her watch briefly while the two were walking. "Where are Hanna and Emily? Shouldn't they be here by now?"

Spencer let out a sigh as she looked away, trying to avoid the conversation at hand. Aria picked up on it though, and refused to let Spencer dodge the discussion. So she asked again, which prompted the taller girl to lead them to a set of benches for them to sit and talk at.

"Emily and I are kind of… Fighting at the moment. Which sucks because we had this phenomenal night last night. But naturally it didn't take long for A to completely ruin it," Spencer explained. Aria looked at her, waiting to give more of an elaboration on the situation, so Spencer continued. "Well, we had our first time last night –"

"You WHAT?!" Aria squealed in excitement. Spencer looked at her wide-eyed, gesturing for her to lower her voice, but Aria couldn't help it. She was so excited and happy for her best friend. "How are you JUST telling me this? Spill, Spence."

"It just kind of… Happened. Actually, I have to give some credit to Mr. Fi – I mean, Ezra. Emily mentioned a novel that he recommended she read. She asked me to tell her something I'd never told anyone before, so I spontaneously came over, found this quote from the book and used it as my way to tell her I love her for the first time. Then one thing led to another and it just… Happened. And Ar… It was incredible," Spencer explained. Aria smiled warmly at her, giving her a congratulatory hug.

"Let me guess, 'I've never had a moment's doubt?'" Aria glanced at Spencer who blushed and looked away while nodding. "Ezra suggested our entire class read it; I actually did. But wow, who knew Spencer Hastings was such a romantic?"

The two girls shared a laugh. It was true, nobody expected Spencer to be the type of person who would spontaneously come up with romantic gestures. Heck, even Spencer didn't think she was that soft. But Emily had a tendency of bringing out the best in her, and Spencer loved that about her girlfriend. It didn't take long for Spencer to figure out that she would do anything just to see Emily smile; and that's exactly what she did that night.

"But I screwed it up by leaving to go meet Garrett after she fell asleep. I thought I could sneak out and come back undetected, but it took longer than expected and by the time I got back, she had noticed I was gone. Naturally I had to tell her what happened, and she was livid," Spencer told the girl.

"And let me guess, she decided that you and I would go shopping for costumes today, and she and Hanna would go separately because she wanted space?" Aria questioned. Spencer looked at her, confused at how she knew exactly what happened. "Rosewood is a small town, not sure how much space she was looking to get here."

Aria looked past Spencer and gestured at the figures that were in the distance behind the girl. Spencer turned to check what she was looking at, and saw Hanna and Emily walking in their direction. She felt her breath catch at the sight of her girlfriend, letting out a deep sigh as the two girls finally noticed them and made their way toward Spencer and Aria's direction. Spencer kept her eyes on Emily as she got closer and closer to them, but Emily refused to spare a glance at the girl. She knew it was because Emily was mad at her, and though it upset her, she understood why the girl was acting the way she was. Finally, Hanna and Emily stopped in front of the two girls. Hanna waved at the girls while Emily stood with her arms crossed, trying to look in any direction but Spencer's.

"Fancy seeing you two here! Find your costumes yet?" Hanna asked the two girls. Aria shook her head no, and the two of them began to discuss the ridiculous costumes that they had seen thus far. Spencer sat in her spot, pretending to listen but really she was trying to catch Emily's gaze at least once. Unfortunately, it was to no avail as the girl refused to partake in the conversation at all. Aria and Hanna could feel the tension between the two girls, and Hanna took it upon herself to try and fix it. "Hey Aria I have to go to the bathroom, want to come with?"

"What, are you afraid you'll get lost or s-" Aria began, but was cut off by Hanna grabbing her arm. Aria was about to shoot her a look, when she realized that Hanna was signaling to the other two girls, wanting to leave them alone to talk. "- I mean, yeah lets go!"

The two scurried off, leaving Spencer and Emily by themselves. Both of their eyes followed the path that their friends had just taken, and Spencer caught Emily rolling her eyes at what Hanna did.

"Subtlety was never their strong suit, huh?" Spencer let out quietly, but was met with silence. "Em can we please talk?"

She could tell Emily was trying not to acknowledge what she had said, and it discouraged the girl slightly. Spencer sighed, but refused to give up. She reached out and took Emily's hand, urging her to sit down next to her. At first Emily was hesitant, but she knew Spencer was persistent and wouldn't give up until they talked. So she sat next to the brunette.

"Okay I'm listening," Emily stated, finally making eye contact with the girl in front of her. She could feel her resolve weakening already, as soon as she looked into her girlfriend's eyes. But she tried as much as she possibly could to not cave.

"Em… I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have run out on you like that. I can't imagine how you felt waking up without me there. But I promise you, it'll never happen again," Spencer stated sincerely. Emily ran her fingers through her hair and let out a deep sigh.

"I appreciate the apology, Spencer. I really do. But you're missing the point here. I'm not mad because I woke up and you weren't beside me. I'm mad because you broke your promise to me," Emily told her. Spencer looked at her and Emily could tell she was unsure of what she was referring to. "You promised me all you wanted to do was see if you could contact Garrett. Not sneak out in the middle of the night and not tell anybody."

"Emily I had to! He said it had to be right then and there and –"

"That doesn't matter Spencer!" Emily interrupted, her voice slightly raised. She closed her eyes momentarily, trying to maintain her composure but she found it difficult to do so. "God, Spencer you don't get it, do you? You could have died! Okay, and then what?"

Spencer reached out to try and comfort her girlfriend, but Emily shrugged her away, not wanting the affection. She saw the tears threatening to fall in Emily's eyes, and in that moment, Spencer knew she messed up.

"Em, I… I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking," Spencer spoke quietly.

"I know you're sorry, Spence. And I get it," Emily told her. "Look, you're the love of my life, okay? You're the person I want to start a future with. But sometimes I just wish you would just remember that and more importantly remember me before making decisions on your own."

She quickly stood with tears finally falling from her eyes. Unable to handle herself anymore, Emily walked away while trying to calm herself down. Spencer contemplated going after her, but she knew that her girlfriend needed space. She saw Hanna and Aria sitting at a table from afar, and immediately after Emily made her exit, the two girls were right next to her. Aria sat with Spencer, comforting her while Hanna went after Emily to make sure she was okay.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that that didn't go how you wanted it to, did it?" Aria asked. Spencer looked to the ground and shook her head no, feeling completely defeated.

"I messed up, and I hurt her. But I'm going to make it up to her," Spencer stated. She reached for her purse and dug her cellphone out, quickly flipping it open and texting rapidly.

"What are you doing?" Aria questioned, looking at the girl curiously. Spencer looked like a mad person, texting quicker than she'd ever seen her before.

"Texting Hanna to find out what Emily is doing for her costume tonight. We may be fighting, but Em is a total sucker for couple costumes. I don't want her to miss out on it just because we're fighting. And if I'm lucky it'll soften her up a little. Let her see I'm really trying for her," Spencer explained. Aria smiled at Spencer's plan. The dynamic within their group of four had shifted slightly ever since two of her best friends started dating each other. But without a doubt, it was for the better. Aria couldn't think of two people more perfect for each other, and the two girls were constantly proving her of that.

* * *

Emily stood in front of her mirror wearing only her matching set of a black-laced bra and underwear while putting the final touches on her make up. She put her lip-gloss down on her desk and ran her fingers through her hair. As she brushed her fingers through her wavy locks, she heard a knock at her bedroom door. Emily glanced at her phone to check the time and if there were any missed messages on it, but when she found nothing she was confused.

"Han? I thought we agreed on 8? It's only 7:45, and you said you'd call when you were on your way," Emily stated as she walked to open the door, assuming it was her blonde friend on the other side. When she opened the door however, she was met with a bouquet of daffodils. Her heart melted at the sight of Spencer holding them out to her, an apologetic look plastered on her face.

"I wanted to bring you the most beautiful thing I could think of. But I realized it would be impossible to deliver you to yourself, so I had to settle for these," Spencer explained. Emily couldn't help the smile that broke out on her face as she took the bouquet in her hands and smelled them. The brunette was happy to see that her girlfriend was in higher spirits than she was earlier that day, and it was only after she acknowledged the smile on Emily's face that she began to notice the girl standing almost completely naked. Spencer mindlessly licked her lips at the sight before pulling her eyes away from her girlfriend's body, not wanting to get caught staring. Emily looked up from the bouquet and gave her a warm smile.

"Thank you, Spencer. Usually you only bring a single daffodil when you're trying to apologize," Emily acknowledged, stepping to the side to allow Spencer enter her room. The brunette smirked at the fact that Emily remembered the occasions for which Spencer brought her flowers. The taller girl glanced over at her girlfriend, noticing that she was standing in jeans and a sweater. "Where's your costume?"

"In the car. I didn't want to go tonight unless it was with you. Honestly Em, I could have overflowed your house with daffodils and it wouldn't suffice to make up for how stupid I was," she replied. Spencer allowed her to place the flowers inside of the vase on her desk before continuing to talk. She gently took Emily's arm, which caused the swimmer to turn and face the girl. "Emily, I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am. I was an idiot, and so selfish which was unfair to you. I love you, so much. You're the best thing in my life, and from here on out, you come first. I will never break a promise to you ever again. Please, forgive me."

Spencer stared into her girlfriend's eyes, unsure of what her reaction would be. She was nervous at the silence, trying to read Emily's facial expressions. When the silence continued, Spencer could feel her confidence fading more and more, until Emily broke into a warm smile before softly placing her hand on Spencer's cheek. Emily leaned forward and Spencer anticipated a kiss, only to be left short when Emily leaned into her hear, whispering softly.

"Want to know the upside to fighting?" Emily questioned in a soft and sultry voice. Spencer nodded slowly. "I hear the make up sex is great."

Spencer grinned and pulled back just enough to catch Emily's lips with her own. She moved her arms around Emily's already bare torso and pulled her in closer while her girlfriend moved her hands to Spencer's hair, her fingers getting lost in Spencer's brown locks. Before the two could move towards the bed, Emily felt Spencer's hands move lower and lower until they were on her lace underwear. She expected Spencer to pull them down, but let out a surprised yelp when she felt the brunette lift her up. The swimmer instantly wrapped her legs around her girlfriend and moved her lips to the girl's neck, sucking on her pulse point. Spencer moaned in her ear as she walked the two of them over to Emily's bed and put her down, instantly falling on top of her. Their lips connected again, and Spencer didn't waste any time allowing Emily entrance to her mouth. Their tongues battled for dominance and Spencer felt herself let out an unexpected moan as she felt Emily buck her hips beneath her. The brunette pulled away momentarily to catch her breath.

"You know, we're expected to be at that party in like 20 minutes right?" Spencer asked breathlessly. Emily panted below her, the look of desire unwavering from her eyes. Spencer looked down at the girl beneath her, who had herself propped up on her elbows, her chest rising as she inhaled deeply. Emily pulled Spencer down and ran her lips up Spencer's neck, the brunette biting her lip to keep her moan in. She came up to Spencer's ear and whispered in a low, seductive tone.

"Well it looks like we're going to be late, now aren't we?"

* * *

"Where the hell are they?" Hanna questioned to Aria who stood next to her, sipping on a drink. The two girls were standing in the foyer of Noel Kahn's cabin, trying to avoid the drunken idiots that were running around. The petite girl shrugged while looking around at the people that were at the party; as if she was expecting to see Spencer and Emily appear in the crowd of people.

"I thought you and Em were supposed to come together," Aria commented. She placed her drink on a table next to her so that she could take her phone from her purse. There were still no calls or messages from either girl, and she wasn't sure if they should be concerned.

"We were, but Spencer begged me to let her pick Emily up so that she could apologize or whatever. But Spencer is never late. Should we go look for them?" Hanna questioned. Aria knew the blonde was right; Spencer being late was so out of character. But at the same time, she was discovering that Spencer had a lot of changes in character when it came to Emily. Not in a negative way, though. Just in a different way. "Okay screw it, I'm texting Caleb to tell him that we're going to go make sure they're not dead in a ditch somewhere."

Hanna reached into her jacket pocket to take her phone out, but was stopped by Aria. The blonde was about to protest, but she looked in the doorway to see her Spencer and Emily entering hand in hand with smiles plastered on their faces. The two girls let out sighs of relief before going to meet their friends.

"It's about time, you two. You were supposed to be here like an hour and a half ago," Aria told them. The couple looked at each other with lustful gazes, and Aria immediately knew why they were late.

"No kidding, we were about to send out a search party," Hanna added.

"Sorry, we uhm… Were busy with something," Emily tried to lie, but couldn't come up with an actual excuse. Aria pursed her lips, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah you were getting busy," the petite girl murmured before looking away. Spencer, having caught what Aria said, looked at her wide-eyed while trying to hide her smile. "Anyways, you two look great!"

Spencer and Emily were wearing similar costumes; corset dresses that ended just above the knees. Emily sported a black corset dress that flared at the bottom; it was laced with a blood red floral pattern and had a crisscross pattern that ran along its back. Spencer wore a similar dress, however it was black with white lace. She had fake blood handprints that were sputtered on her dress, and she wore an intricate black and red necklace. Both girls had their hair half up, half down and wore black smoky eye make up, however Emily's had a red tint. When they smiled, their fake fangs poked out from underneath, which brought attention to Emily in particular as she had fake blood around her mouth. The look was topped off with the red contact lenses that they wore.

"Thanks, Ar. Same to the both of you!" Emily replied. She snuggled herself closer to Spencer, and kissed her on the cheek before whispering softly. "I'm going to go grab a drink and say hi to the swim team. Do you want anything, babe?"

Spencer turned her attention to her girlfriend and shook her head no while biting her lip before kissing Emily on the lips. She gave Emily's arm a light squeeze before letting her go. The brunette was lost in a trance as she watched Emily leave, she almost forgot about her two best friends standing right in front of her. Hanna snapped her fingers in front of Spencer's face, which brought her back to reality.

"Sorry what? Oh yeah you guys look great!" Spencer added, clearly late to the conversation. She looked over at Aria who was sporting a white dress that was covered in polka dots, with long stockings to match. The band around her waist and attached to what looked like a wind-up knob. Aria had her hair in two braids on either side of her head, and her face was intentionally made to look pale, with deep red circles painted onto her cheeks and a dash of red lipstick on the centre of her lips. "Let me guess. Aria, you're a doll and Hanna… Judging by the incredibly curly hair, tight black pants, leather jacket, and the fact that I just saw Caleb sporting slicked back hair and a leather T-Birds jacket, you're supposed to be Sandy Olsson?"

The two girls nodded at Spencer's accurate observations.

"And you and Em… Vampires?" Hanna questioned, to which Spencer also nodded. The brunette looked past her two friends at Emily, who was surrounded by a pool of girls – mostly all on her swim team, which unfortunately included Paige. But she didn't let it get to her. Instead, Spencer was caught up in admiring her girlfriend from afar; she looked incredible. Before she let her thoughts trail to their pre-party activities, Spencer drew her attention back to the two girls that were now talking in front of her.

"So Aria, why were you panicking over us being late anyways?" Spencer questioned. She and Hanna looked at each other, unsure of who wanted to tell her. Spencer could tell it was something important just by how the two girls reacted to the question. The brunette gave her two friends a look of impatience, and Hanna gestured to Aria to tell her.

"When we got here, there was someone looking for y-" Aria began, but was cut off when she heard Spencer mutter the name in question.

"Jason."

Spencer spotted Jason in the back area of Noel's cabin. He stood by himself, his eyes locked on her almost as though he was waiting for her to notice. She heard Hanna murmur something about finding Caleb, and Aria talking about going outside to find a quiet space to call Ezra, so Spencer excused herself from the conversation and pushed her way through the crowds of people, making her way towards her brother.

As she got closer to him, Jason acknowledged her with a nod and then gestured her to follow him. Spencer was unsure of where Jason was leading her, but she followed blindly anyways. The two came across a door that led to an empty bedroom, and Jason opened it, gesturing for Spencer to enter. He followed behind her and closed the door, leaving them completely alone in the empty room. The two stood face to face in total silence, almost as though each was waiting for the other to start a conversation. Spencer took her fake fangs off to make it easier for her to talk, and began.

"Where have you been, Jason? You completely vanished," Spencer started. Jason looked down at the glass in his hand before looking up at her.

"Have you heard from Garrett?" Jason questioned back, not answering the girl's question. Spencer made note of it but decided not to push the issue, knowing that Jason would only become frustrated if she did. Jason questioning her about Garrett took her aback, considering the last Jason saw of him was when he was arrested for the murder of Alison. As if reading her mind, he gave her a quick elaboration of the background of his question. "We bumped into each other not long ago, Spencer. He told me you were trying to contact him and that he was going to come back to Rosewood to talk to you before he left for good."

"He never showed," Spencer blurted out quickly. It was then that she realized yesterday night wasn't an A setup. He genuinely tried to reach out to her, but he never came. This instantly raised Spencer's concern, worried that something may have happened to him because he was trying to contact her. Jason looked at her in what seemed to initially be disbelief, but immediately shifted to a look of panic. Spencer explained what had happened the other night when she and Garrett were supposed to meet and talk, resulting in a no-show from Garrett.

Silence fell over the room as Jason ran his fingers through his hair and began to pace. Spencer looked at him, unsure of what to do or say. She was about to try and break the tension when she felt a vibration come from her purse, immediately prompting her to take her phone out. Relieved to see that it was just a text from Emily, she quickly opened the message that read: 'Empty room upstairs, 3rd door on your right. I'll be waiting, xoxo'. She held back a smile and gently shook her head at the message. Spencer felt her thoughts begin to wander but she immediately snapped back into reality when she heard the door creak open.

"Where are you going?" Spencer asked, as she saw Jason about to exit the room. He looked back at her, almost as though he was contemplating what to tell her.

"I have to go make a phone call," he explained and began to leave once more, but Spencer grabbed his arm to stop him once more. "What, Spencer?"

"I just… I have one more question to ask you," Spencer began. Jason stayed silent, letting her know that she could ask it. "Do you know anything about Melissa going to Columbia?"

A look came across Jason's face, and Spencer immediately knew that he had information on the subject.

"How do you know about that?" he questioned her in a low tone, as though he thought someone was listening in on the conversation. Spencer noted the immediate change in is demeanor, but opted to not draw attention to it.

"My friend Cayleigh told me about it. Is it true?" Spencer questioned, trying to press Jason for any information possible. A visible wave of confusion came over him.

"Cayleigh? Who the fu – wait, do you mean Cece? How do you know her, I thought she was only friends with Ali growing up," Jason commented, which completely threw Spencer off. In all the time that she had known Cayleigh, she had never mentioned knowing Alison at all. Before Spencer even had a chance to question whether or not they were talking about the same person, Jason took his phone out. He shifted through it, finally finding what he was looking for. He held the phone up to Spencer's face for her to see. "That the girl you're talking about?"

Spencer took the phone from Jason's hands to see a picture of Jason, Cece, and Alison standing on a boat together in what she immediately assumed to be Cape May. Sure enough, they were talking about the same person. The new information was overwhelming, now knowing that in all the time that she and Cayleigh had been friends, the blonde had never mentioned a thing about her. She looked at the picture once more, almost as if she was analyzing it to make sure that the girl in question was her friend. Upon looking at it a second time, she noticed something that had been cut off from the photo.

"Jason, who was standing next to Ali when this picture was taken?" Spencer questioned. She could see another arm around the blonde girl, but it cut off before the full body was shown. Jason took the phone back from her and squinted at the picture, as though he was trying to decipher it just by looking at the arm.

"I… I can't tell. To tell you the truth Spencer, I was high and drunk that entire summer. I don't remember, at all," Jason explained to her. She sighed in disappointment, hitting another dead end about the mysterious trip that Ali had to Cape May. "You know, I'm almost positive that I have a print out of the picture at my house."

Spencer immediately perked up upon hearing this. The two discussed meeting up sometime the following day so that they could both take a look at the photo, and Spencer instantly had hope that she was one step closer to figuring everything out. Following this, Jason gave Spencer a final warning to be careful before the two siblings parted ways and Spencer immediately went to find Emily, hoping she was still waiting in the bedroom for her.

She came across the room and didn't hesitate to open the door, walking in and closing it behind her. Spencer expected to be greeted with her waiting girlfriend, but the bed in front of her was empty. Slightly disappointed, Spencer was about to turn around to head back out so that she could go and find her girlfriend, but was stopped when she felt arms wrap around her waist.

"Took you long enough," the voice whispered from behind her. Spencer grinned, and turned around in the girl's arms finally coming face to face with Emily. She saw that Emily had gotten rid of her fake fangs, along with the fake blood that surrounded her mouth. Their lips instantly connected, and Emily was the first to slip her tongue into Spencer's mouth, exploring the warm cave. Spencer led the two of them to the bed that was just a few feet away from them. She shoved Emily down and allowed the girl to scoot up the bed before climbing on and straddling her. Emily glanced up eagerly and pulled Spencer down closer.

"You'd think after earlier you'd be sick of me already," Spencer whispered to her as she moved her lips to Emily's neck, nipping and sucking it. Emily bit her lip and let out a loud moan.

"Mm, I don't think I could ever get sick of this," Emily admitted. She put her hands on Spencer's legs as she began to move higher and higher until they disappeared under her dress. Spencer moved her lips from Emily's neck and connected them to the girl's once more while running her fingers through her girlfriend's hair, which allowed the clips to come out, her hair now flowing freely. Emily moved her hands around Spencer's backside, giving it a firm squeeze and causing the girl on top of her to grind into her. Her fingers slipped underneath the hem of Spencer's lacy underwear, and she was about to pull them down when the door suddenly shot open.

"Ohhhh my God I should have knocked," the girl let out. Emily and Spencer instantly pulled away, completely embarrassed. "Sorry, I was just looking for you guys because I can't seem to find Aria."

Hanna stood in the doorway with her hand now covering her eyes as Spencer and Emily broke apart from each other, each trying to smooth out their costumes. Emily ran her hands through her hair in order to make it look somewhat presentable, and then the two girls sat on the edge of the bed, leaving a reasonable distance between them. Hanna peeked through her hand, wanting to make sure they weren't in a compromising position before removing her hand completely. Upon seeing that they had separated, Hanna dropped her hand.

"What do you mean you can't find Aria? I thought she was outside calling Fitz?" Spencer spoke, recalling what she'd caught before she went to talk to Jason.

"No, I saw her come back inside after that," Emily told them. The three girls looked at each other, concerned that Aria was missing. Emily and Spencer stood from the bed, and all three of them took their phones out, trying to contact her. None of them got an answer, so they immediately decided to search every room in the entire house, starting with the upstairs rooms. One by one they searched each room, coming up short each and every time. Emily kept her phone in her hand, hitting redial in hopes that they could hear Aria's ringtone. They moved from upstairs to downstairs and scoured the main area, still finding nothing. The three girls came to the last door in the house, opening it to find nothing but a bookshelf and what seemed to be a build up of the Kahn family's old snowboarding equipment.

"This was the last room, guys. Maybe she went home," Emily stated, trying to be as optimistic as she possibly could. But the girls didn't need optimism right now. They needed reality, and the reality was that their best friend was missing.

"She wouldn't have left without telling any of us," Spencer replied. Hanna let out a sigh and took out her phone, once more trying to call Aria's number. The brunette turned and began to open the door so that they could exit the room, but Emily put her hand on it, closing it as soon as it had opened. "Babe what are you doing?"

"Shh, listen," Emily directed. All three girls went silent, and they heard a ringing sound coming from the empty room. They collectively looked at each other and then spread out in the room, trying to find the source of the sound. Spencer dug through the equipment that was laid on the ground while Emily moved toward a set of boxes that were stacked along the opposite wall. Hanna walked towards the bookcase that leaned against the wall parallel to the entrance, and she could distinctly hear the ringing coming from behind the bookshelf. The blonde stood back and looked at the bookcase, realizing that it was blocking a door that was behind it.

"Guys look," Hanna told them, causing Emily and Spencer to abandon what they were doing and move to where Hanna was. The blonde pointed to the doorframe that was behind the bookshelf, and as soon as they noticed what she was pointing at, all three girls moved to the end of it, pushing the shelf out of the way. They looked at each other once more, almost silently agreeing that they were going to enter the secret room. Emily opened the door and she and Hanna entered in front of Spencer who placed something in the doorway to make sure they didn't get locked in before entering the room as well. The girls looked around the room and found nothing in it but bags and camping supplies. Emily walked around the room and looked at the abandoned room, trying to find clues as to who had been there.

"It just looks like an extra room for people to crash in," Spencer pointed out. She sat down on a seat that leaned against a wall, her foot hitting the bottom of it. Spencer heard the sound it made, and immediately stood from her spot. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Hanna questioned. Spencer kicked the bottom of the seat once more to repeat the sound, but she could see that Hanna didn't understand its importance.

"It's hollow," Emily explained for her. Spencer stood back from it and glanced at the seat once more, before realizing that there was a hidden compartment in it. She lifted up the cushion and inside of it was a bag. Spencer pulled it out of the compartment and as she set it down, Emily let out a gasp. Both girls shifted their attention to the swimmer who stood, wide eyed as though she had seen a ghost. "That… That's Maya's bag."

Before Emily could see what was in it, the girls heard a muffled noise from the seats that came from across the room. All three of them looked at each other and slowly approached it, the sound getting louder and louder. When they were close enough they could tell it was the sound of a muffled scream, which caused them to rush over to it and open the other secret compartment.

"Oh my God!" Spencer let out. "Aria!"

The three girls immediately focused their attention on Aria who was tied up and had tape over her mouth. Ignoring the foul smell that was coming from the space, they lifted her out of the hidden compartment and began to untie the ropes that bound her hands and feet together. Hanna put the girl's head on her lap and slowly began to pull the duct tape off of her, trying to be careful not to hurt her. She tried to soothe Aria who was still screaming through the duct tape, tears running down her face. Once Emily and Spencer untied her, Aria shuffled her body away from the compartment, the fear evident in her eyes. She ripped the tape off of her mouth, and the three girls rushed over to her.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked.

"What happened?" Hanna followed. The petite girl had tears streaming down her face as she just pointed at the open compartment, her arm shaking in fear.

"G-Ga-Ga," Aria stuttered, unable to form a clear sentence. Spencer acknowledged what Aria was pointing to and walked back over to the compartment they had just taken Aria out of. She peered inside and let out a blood curling scream that caused the other girls to rush over, their reactions the exact same.

Garrett's rotting corpse lay inside of the hidden compartment, his eyes still open, with a knife sticking out of a bloody wound in his chest. Spencer put her hand over her mouth almost as though she was willing herself not to let out another scream. The girls all stared at the note that was stuck on his chest, and with a shaky hand, Emily reached out and took it off of him, careful not to touch any other part of him so as to not get her fingerprints on his corpse. The girls unfolded the note and collectively gasped at what it read.

'How many innocent people do you think are going to die at your hands, girls? Consider this your final warning, bitches. What you thought was a lead is now a DEAD end. Stop looking. –A.'

**Thoughts? Comments? Reviews? Suggestions? Let me know, please and thank you! PS, you're all awesome for sticking through with me!**


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